Microsoft's anticompetitive practices: Difference between revisions

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{{Incomplete|Issue 1=Needs more incident variety - Most, if not all of these incidents listed refer in some way to a browser developed by Microsoft. We should invest time into getting more anticompetitive incidents that are unrelated to browsers here for the sake of variety|Issue 2=Needs more source variety - Being mostly sources from The Verge acts more as an ad for the site rather than provide credibility to this article}}

The software company ''[[Microsoft]]'' has had a history of harming its competition on devices running ''[[Windows]]''. This is a historical list of every incident where ''[[Microsoft]]'' has harmed its competition

The software company ''[[Microsoft]]'' has had a history of harming its competition on devices running ''[[Windows]]''. This is a historical list of every incident where ''[[Microsoft]]'' has harmed its competition.

==Background==

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==History of incidents==

=== Anticompetitive lawsuits ===

===Anticompetitive lawsuits===

==== United States v. '''Microsoft Corp.: 2000''' ====

====United States v. '''Microsoft Corp.: 2000'''====

In the case ''United States v. Microsoft '''Corp.''','' 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000),<ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/87/30/2307082/ "United States v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000)"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> '''''Microsoft'''''<nowiki/>'s conduct taken as a whole was described as a "deliberate assault upon entrepreneurial efforts that, could well have enabled the introduction of competition into the market for [[Intel]]-compatible PC operating systems". Further, "''Microsoft''<nowiki/>'s anti-competitive actions trammeled the competitive process through which the computer software industry generally stimulates innovation and conduces to the optimum benefit of consumers."

==== US Department of Justice, U.S. v. '''Microsoft Corp.: 2001''' ====

====US Department of Justice, U.S. v. '''Microsoft Corp.: 2001'''====

In a major antitrust case brought by the ''US Department of Justice'', ''U.S. v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001),<ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/253/34/576095/ "U.S. v. Microsoft Corp., 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001)"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> ''Microsoft'' argued that there was no barrier to entry in the market they were in. A central issue at that time was whether '''''Microsoft''''' could bundle the web browser ''Internet Explorer'' with the ''[[Windows|'''Microsoft''' Windows]]'' operating system. The ''District Court'' stated the following in the court case:<blockquote>"The District Court condemned a number of provisions in '''''Microsoft'''''<nowiki/>'s agreements licensing ''[[Windows]]'' to OEMs, because it found that ''Microsoft''<nowiki/>'s imposition of those provisions (like many of '''''Microsoft'''''<nowiki/>'s other actions at issue in this case) serves to reduce usage share of ''Netscape''<nowiki/>'s browser and, hence, protect '''''Microsoft'''''<nowiki/>'s operating system monopoly."</blockquote>The court specifically identified three main license restrictions for [[Original Equipment Manufacturers]] (OEMs) that were considered problematic:

# The prohibition upon the removal of desktop icons, folders, and Start menu entries

#The prohibition upon the removal of desktop icons, folders, and Start menu entries

# The prohibition for modifying the initial boot sequence

#The prohibition for modifying the initial boot sequence

# The prohibition of otherwise altering the appearance of the Windows desktop

#The prohibition of otherwise altering the appearance of the Windows desktop

The case was eventually settled,<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/503541/dl "Final judgment of US v. Microsoft"] - justice.gov - accessed 2025-01-29</ref><ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/373/1199/474311/ "Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Ex Rel., Appellant, v. Microsoft Corporation"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> and did not result in a company breakup.<ref>[https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/long-antitrust-saga-ends-for-microsoft/ "Long antitrust saga ends for Microsoft"] - seattletimes.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref>

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During major updates for ''[[Windows]]'', users have been reporting their installations of [[Microsoft Edge|''Edge'']] being reinstalled to their devices without their consent.<ref>[https://www.windowscentral.com/how-prevent-microsoft-edge-chromium-installing-automatically-windows-10 "How to prevent new Microsoft Edge from installing automatically on Windows 10"] - windowscentral.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref>

====Importing content from other browsers without consent: 2020 - Unknown ====

====Importing content from other browsers without consent: 2020 - Unknown====

Users have reported on frequent occasions that [[Microsoft Edge|''Edge'']] has imported user data from browsers such as [[Google Chrome|''Chrome'']] and [[Mozilla Firefox|''Firefox'']] without first requesting consent from the user.<ref>[https://www.komando.com/news/microsoft-edge-caught-importing-data/ "Microsoft caught importing data before you give the OK"] - komando.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref>

==== Harassing users into using Edge: 2020 - Unknown ====

====Harassing users into using Edge: 2020 - Unknown====

In 2020, users for [[Windows|Windows 10]] faced repeated harassment from Edge to use this browser instead of the user's chosen default browser.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hollister |first=Sean |date=Jul 2, 2020 |title=With Edge, Microsoft’s forced Windows updates just sank to a new low |url=https://www.theverge.com/21310611/microsoft-edge-browser-forced-update-chromium-editorial |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Some examples included the browser opening on startup, the browser being forced into full screen, being incapable of closing the browser until the user acknowledges the pop-up, and the browser pinning itself to the taskbar.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Hemert |first=Taran |date=Jul 2, 2020 |title=Tweet from Taran Van Hemert |url=https://x.com/TaranVH/status/1278758217074405377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1278758217074405377%7Ctwgr%5Ee004e3bc5652ed5a81062f5862eaf9a63967a58c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F21310611%2Fmicrosoft-edge-browser-forced-update-chromium-editorial |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |website=X, formerly [[Twitter]]}}</ref>

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“‘I hate saving money,’ said no one ever. Microsoft Edge is the best browser for online shopping.”</blockquote>This has been reported to occur on devices running either ''[[Windows|Windows 10]]'' or ''[[Windows|Windows 11]]'', and frequently aims to directly harm the market share of Chrome,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hollister |first=Sean |date=Oct 24, 2024 |title=Microsoft now thirstily injects a poll when you download Google Chrome |url=https://www.theverge.com/23930960/microsoft-edge-google-chrome-poll-why-try-another-browser |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite the browser itself running on the same codebase as ''[[Chromium]]''.

=== Windows 11 ===

===Windows 11===

==== Increasing the difficulty to switch default browsers: 2021 - Present ====

====Increasing the difficulty to switch default browsers: 2021 - Present====

After an update in 2021, computers running ''[[Windows 11]]'' had the systems that handled modifying the web browser defaults.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Warren |first=Tom |date=Aug 18, 2021 |title=Microsoft is making it harder to switch default browsers in Windows 11 |url=https://www.theverge.com/22630319/microsoft-windows-11-default-browser-changes |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Rather than allow the user to simply switch the default web browser, file types typically accessed via web browsers, such as HTM, HTML, SVG, and more have to be individually modified to have the default opening application changed. This has angered companies maintaining competing web browsers<ref name=":0" /><!-- If we can get the notes feature added, this should be a useful note to include:

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===Bing web search===

==== Attempting to harm competing web browsers: 2023 - Unknown ====

====Attempting to harm competing web browsers: 2023 - Unknown====

[[File:Bing search comparison.png|thumb|A side-by-side comparison between the [[Brave browser]] and [[Microsoft Edge]], where [[Microsoft Bing|Bing]] attempts to sway the user away from switching the browser.]]

When doing a web search for an alternative web browser through ''[[Microsoft Bing|Bing]]'', ''[[Microsoft]]''<nowiki/>'s in-house developed [[wikipedia:Search_engine|search engine]] that is also used as the default for ''[[Microsoft Edge|Edge]]'', the [[wikipedia:Search_engine|search engine]]'s AI will attempt to bury the search results for the web browser from the user.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hollister |first=Sean |date=Jun 6, 2023 |title=Microsoft has no shame: Bing spit on my ‘Chrome’ search with a fake AI answer |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/6/23736289/microsoft-bing-chrome-search-fake-ai-chatbot |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

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Beyond this, users specifically using both ''[[Microsoft Edge|Edge]]'' and its [[Microsoft Bing|default search engine]] will continue to see harassment at the top of the search, attempting to keep the user on the browser.

==== Disguising itself as another search engine: 2025 - Present ====

====Disguising itself as another search engine: 2025 - Present====

Currently, when a user does a web search for "[[Google]]", the search engine will disguise itself as a generic search engine that would appear to look like Google in the eyes of the average user.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Warren |first=Tom |date=Jan 6, 2025 |title=Microsoft is using Bing to trick people into thinking they’re on Google |url=https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/6/24337117/microsoft-bing-search-results-google-design-trick |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref>

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
 {{Incomplete|Issue 1=Needs more incident variety - Most, if not all of these incidents listed refer in some way to a browser developed by Microsoft. We should invest time into getting more anticompetitive incidents that are unrelated to browsers here for the sake of variety|Issue 2=Needs more source variety - Being mostly sources from The Verge acts more as an ad for the site rather than provide credibility to this article}}
-The software company ''[[Microsoft]]'' has had a history of harming its competition on devices running ''[[Windows]]''. This is a historical list of every incident where ''[[Microsoft]]'' has harmed its competition
+The software company ''[[Microsoft]]'' has had a history of harming its competition on devices running ''[[Windows]]''. This is a historical list of every incident where ''[[Microsoft]]'' has harmed its competition.
 ==Background==
@@ Line 8: / Line 8: @@
 ==History of incidents<!-- I request that this section is organized chronologically, where the product with the oldest incident is focused at the top! - JamesTDG -->==
-=== Anticompetitive lawsuits ===
+===Anticompetitive lawsuits===
-==== United States v. '''Microsoft Corp.: 2000''' ====
+====United States v. '''Microsoft Corp.: 2000'''====
 In the case ''United States v. Microsoft '''Corp.''','' 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000),<ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/FSupp2/87/30/2307082/ "United States v. Microsoft Corp., 87 F. Supp. 2d 30 (D.D.C. 2000)"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> '''''Microsoft'''''<nowiki/>'s conduct taken as a whole was described as a "deliberate assault upon entrepreneurial efforts that, could well have enabled the introduction of competition into the market for [[Intel]]-compatible PC operating systems". Further, "''Microsoft''<nowiki/>'s anti-competitive actions trammeled the competitive process through which the computer software industry generally stimulates innovation and conduces to the optimum benefit of consumers."
-==== US Department of Justice, U.S. v. '''Microsoft Corp.: 2001''' ====
+====US Department of Justice, U.S. v. '''Microsoft Corp.: 2001'''====
 In a major antitrust case brought by the ''US Department of Justice'', ''U.S. v. Microsoft Corp.,'' 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001),<ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/253/34/576095/ "U.S. v. Microsoft Corp., 253 F.3d 34 (D.C. Cir. 2001)"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> ''Microsoft'' argued that there was no barrier to entry in the market they were in. A central issue at that time was whether '''''Microsoft''''' could bundle the web browser ''Internet Explorer'' with the ''[[Windows|'''Microsoft''' Windows]]'' operating system. The ''District Court'' stated the following in the court case:<blockquote>"The District Court condemned a number of provisions in '''''Microsoft'''''<nowiki/>'s agreements licensing ''[[Windows]]'' to OEMs, because it found that ''Microsoft''<nowiki/>'s imposition of those provisions (like many of '''''Microsoft'''''<nowiki/>'s other actions at issue in this case) serves to reduce usage share of ''Netscape''<nowiki/>'s browser and, hence, protect '''''Microsoft'''''<nowiki/>'s operating system monopoly."</blockquote>The court specifically identified three main license restrictions for [[Original Equipment Manufacturers]] (OEMs) that were considered problematic:
-# The prohibition upon the removal of desktop icons, folders, and Start menu entries
+#The prohibition upon the removal of desktop icons, folders, and Start menu entries
-# The prohibition for modifying the initial boot sequence
+#The prohibition for modifying the initial boot sequence
-# The prohibition of otherwise altering the appearance of the Windows desktop
+#The prohibition of otherwise altering the appearance of the Windows desktop
 The case was eventually settled,<ref>[https://www.justice.gov/atr/case-document/file/503541/dl "Final judgment of US v. Microsoft"] - justice.gov - accessed 2025-01-29</ref><ref>[https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/F3/373/1199/474311/ "Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Ex Rel., Appellant, v. Microsoft Corporation"] - law.justia.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref> and did not result in a company breakup.<ref>[https://www.seattletimes.com/business/microsoft/long-antitrust-saga-ends-for-microsoft/ "Long antitrust saga ends for Microsoft"] - seattletimes.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref>
@@ Line 32: / Line 32: @@
 During major updates for ''[[Windows]]'', users have been reporting their installations of [[Microsoft Edge|''Edge'']] being reinstalled to their devices without their consent.<ref>[https://www.windowscentral.com/how-prevent-microsoft-edge-chromium-installing-automatically-windows-10 "How to prevent new Microsoft Edge from installing automatically on Windows 10"] - windowscentral.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref>
-====Importing content from other browsers without consent: 2020 - Unknown <!-- After a Windows 11 update, Edge automatically opened with Chrome tabs auto-imported  https://x.com/tomwarren/status/1750175894306439601   https://www.theverge.com/24054329/microsoft-edge-automatic-chrome-import-data-feature -->====
+====Importing content from other browsers without consent: 2020 - Unknown<!-- After a Windows 11 update, Edge automatically opened with Chrome tabs auto-imported  https://x.com/tomwarren/status/1750175894306439601   https://www.theverge.com/24054329/microsoft-edge-automatic-chrome-import-data-feature -->====
 Users have reported on frequent occasions that [[Microsoft Edge|''Edge'']] has imported user data from browsers such as [[Google Chrome|''Chrome'']] and [[Mozilla Firefox|''Firefox'']] without first requesting consent from the user.<ref>[https://www.komando.com/news/microsoft-edge-caught-importing-data/ "Microsoft caught importing data before you give the OK"] - komando.com - accessed 2025-01-29</ref>
-==== Harassing users into using Edge: 2020 - Unknown ====
+====Harassing users into using Edge: 2020 - Unknown====
 In 2020, users for [[Windows|Windows 10]] faced repeated harassment from Edge to use this browser instead of the user's chosen default browser.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hollister |first=Sean |date=Jul 2, 2020 |title=With Edge, Microsoft’s forced Windows updates just sank to a new low |url=https://www.theverge.com/21310611/microsoft-edge-browser-forced-update-chromium-editorial |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Some examples included the browser opening on startup, the browser being forced into full screen, being incapable of closing the browser until the user acknowledges the pop-up, and the browser pinning itself to the taskbar.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Van Hemert |first=Taran |date=Jul 2, 2020 |title=Tweet from Taran Van Hemert |url=https://x.com/TaranVH/status/1278758217074405377?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1278758217074405377%7Ctwgr%5Ee004e3bc5652ed5a81062f5862eaf9a63967a58c%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.theverge.com%2F21310611%2Fmicrosoft-edge-browser-forced-update-chromium-editorial |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |website=X, formerly [[Twitter]]}}</ref>
@@ Line 46: / Line 46: @@
 “‘I hate saving money,’ said no one ever. Microsoft Edge is the best browser for online shopping.”</blockquote>This has been reported to occur on devices running either ''[[Windows|Windows 10]]'' or ''[[Windows|Windows 11]]'', and frequently aims to directly harm the market share of Chrome,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hollister |first=Sean |date=Oct 24, 2024 |title=Microsoft now thirstily injects a poll when you download Google Chrome |url=https://www.theverge.com/23930960/microsoft-edge-google-chrome-poll-why-try-another-browser |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref> despite the browser itself running on the same codebase as ''[[Chromium]]''.
-=== Windows 11 ===
+===Windows 11===
-==== Increasing the difficulty to switch default browsers: 2021 - Present ====
+====Increasing the difficulty to switch default browsers: 2021 - Present====
 After an update in 2021, computers running ''[[Windows 11]]'' had the systems that handled modifying the web browser defaults.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Warren |first=Tom |date=Aug 18, 2021 |title=Microsoft is making it harder to switch default browsers in Windows 11 |url=https://www.theverge.com/22630319/microsoft-windows-11-default-browser-changes |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref> Rather than allow the user to simply switch the default web browser, file types typically accessed via web browsers, such as HTM, HTML, SVG, and more have to be individually modified to have the default opening application changed. This has angered companies maintaining competing web browsers<ref name=":0" /><!-- If we can get the notes feature added, this should be a useful note to include:
@@ Line 63: / Line 63: @@
 ===Bing web search===
-==== Attempting to harm competing web browsers: 2023 - Unknown ====
+====Attempting to harm competing web browsers: 2023 - Unknown====
 [[File:Bing search comparison.png|thumb|A side-by-side comparison between the [[Brave browser]] and [[Microsoft Edge]], where [[Microsoft Bing|Bing]] attempts to sway the user away from switching the browser.]]
 When doing a web search for an alternative web browser through ''[[Microsoft Bing|Bing]]'', ''[[Microsoft]]''<nowiki/>'s in-house developed [[wikipedia:Search_engine|search engine]] that is also used as the default for ''[[Microsoft Edge|Edge]]'', the [[wikipedia:Search_engine|search engine]]'s AI will attempt to bury the search results for the web browser from the user.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hollister |first=Sean |date=Jun 6, 2023 |title=Microsoft has no shame: Bing spit on my ‘Chrome’ search with a fake AI answer |url=https://www.theverge.com/2023/6/6/23736289/microsoft-bing-chrome-search-fake-ai-chatbot |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref>
@@ Line 69: / Line 69: @@
 Beyond this, users specifically using both ''[[Microsoft Edge|Edge]]'' and its [[Microsoft Bing|default search engine]] will continue to see harassment at the top of the search, attempting to keep the user on the browser.
-==== Disguising itself as another search engine: 2025 - Present<!-- I want to see more elaboration here - JamesTDG --> ====
+====Disguising itself as another search engine: 2025 - Present<!-- I want to see more elaboration here - JamesTDG -->====
 Currently, when a user does a web search for "[[Google]]", the search engine will disguise itself as a generic search engine that would appear to look like Google in the eyes of the average user.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Warren |first=Tom |date=Jan 6, 2025 |title=Microsoft is using Bing to trick people into thinking they’re on Google |url=https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/6/24337117/microsoft-bing-search-results-google-design-trick |access-date=Jun 21, 2025 |work=The Verge}}</ref>