European Committee for Interoperable Systems
The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) is an international non-profit association founded in 1989 in order to promote interoperability and market conditions in the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) sector allowing vigorous competition on the merits and a diversity of consumer choice. ECIS has represented its members on many issues related to interoperability and competition before European, national and international bodies, including the European Union institutions and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). ECIS’ members include large and smaller information and communications technology hardware and software providers as Adobe Systems, Corel Corporation, IBM, Linspire, Nokia, Opera Software, Oracle Corporation, RealNetworks, Red Hat, and Sun Microsystems.[1]
Involvement against Microsoft dominance
Over the past years, ECIS has been actively involved in the European Commission’s anti-trust condemnation against Microsoft, now upheld by the European Court of First Instance in September 2007.[2][3][4]
Ziff-Davis' eWeek comments that
| “ | ECIS (European Committee for Interoperable Systems) again charged that Windows Vista would stifle innovation and competition. The group, founded in 1989, represents a Who's Who list of Microsoft competitors, including Adobe, Corel, IBM, Linspire, Nokia, Opera, Oracle, RealNetworks, Red Hat and Sun. Many of these same companies are Microsoft partners, too. | ” |
- [1]
Other complaints about Microsoft include:
- That bundling XAML in Vista is an attempt to replace HTML by a Microsoft-specific technology[1][5][6]
- That Office Open XML is a Microsoft-dependent document format[2]
See also
Statements about the European Commission's anti-trust case against Microsoft
- ECIS statement from Oct. 22 on the EU-MS agreement
- ECIS statement on the European Court First Instance (CFI) Microsoft judgment
- March 26, 2004 ECIS welcomes Commission Decision finding Microsoft infringed Article 82
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Microsoft Competitors' 'Wow' Moment". microsoft-watch.com. 2007-01-26. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
Today, ECIS (European Committee for Interoperable Systems) again charged that Windows Vista would stifle innovation and competition. The group, founded in 1989, represents a Who's Who list of Microsoft competitors, including Adobe, Corel, IBM, Linspire, Nokia, Opera, Oracle, RealNetworks, Red Hat and Sun. Many of these same companies are Microsoft partners, too.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "ECIS Media Release January 26, 2007". ECIS. 2007-01-26. Retrieved 2008-03-06.
With XAML and OOXML Microsoft seeks to impose its own Windows-dependent standards and displace existing open cross-platform standards which have wide industry acceptance, permit open competition and promote competition-driven innovation. The end result will be the continued absence of any real consumer choice, years of waiting for Microsoft to improve - or even debug - its monopoly products, and of course high prices
- ↑ ECIS News room
- ↑ "Microsoft hit by two more EC probes". The Register. 2008-01-14. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
Commission will also investigate whether the software giant's new office file format, Office Open XML, is interoperable enough with competing products. This refers to a complaint made by the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS)
- ↑ "Microsoft runs into EU Vista charges". itwire.com. 2007-01-28. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
The main complaint is Microsoft's bundling of its own markup language XAML with Vista. According to ECIS, XAML has been positioned to compete with the universally used HTML (hypertext markup language), which is the code used to design web pages of sites in use today. ECIS contends that bundling XAML with Vista is an attempt to promote the creation of websites that work only with Vista.
- ↑ Fulton, Scott (2007-01-28). "ECIS Accuses Microsoft of Plotting HTML Hijack". betanews.com. Retrieved 2008-02-24.