Firefox Creators Join the Anti-IE Crusade

The Mozilla Foundation's Chief Executive is speaking out against Microsoft, and she isn't mincing her words. Mitchell Baker has made it clear that she stands behind the European Commission and its recent antitrust statement against the software giant. "I've been involved in building and shipping Web browsers continuously since before Microsoft started developing IE, and the damage Microsoft has done to competition, innovation, and the pace of Web development itself is both glaring and ongoing," opined Baker in a blog post this past Friday.

On January 15th, the Commission sent a Statement of Objections to Microsoft based on the opinion that the company's long-standing practice of tying Internet Explorer to Windows infringes upon the EC Treaty rules on abuse of a dominant position. The initial investigation, which began over a year ago, was sparked in part by complaints from another vendor. Opera, one of Microsoft's competitors in the browser market, grew tired of IE's dominance and not only filed an antitrust complaint with the Commission but also presented some ideas on how Microsoft could fix the situation.

Different suggestions have been bandied about over the past year, including forcing Microsoft to bundle alternative browsers with the Windows operating system. Although not all parties involved completely agree on the appropriate solution, they do seem to be on the same page regarding one thing - something needs to change. "There are separate questions of whether there is a good remedy, and what that remedy might be," Baker went on to say. "But questions regarding an appropriate remedy do not change the essential fact. Microsoft's business practices have fundamentally diminished (in fact, came very close to eliminating) competition, choice and innovation in how people access the Internet."

Now that Mozilla has officially joined the fray and a Statement of Objections has been issued to Microsoft, it will be interesting to see how things shape up over the next several months. Competition in the Web browser realm has really heated up lately, with new entries like Google Chrome making a serious play for their piece of the market. Also, Microsoft's newest operating system, Windows 7, as well as the Internet Explorer 8 browser are right around the corner. A ruling by the EC forcing changes to either of these products would be a landmark decision that would no doubt have a significant ripple effect on the rest of the Web browser community. Only time can tell where all the pieces will end up but one thing is certain: The browser wars are back!