“The European Commission is considering whether to order
Microsoft to hand over internal memos revealed in the International
Herald Tribune and New York Times that describe sales practices the
European regulator suspects may break its antitrust rules, people
close to the Commission said Thursday…“Most discounting is viewed as normal competitive business
behavior, but European Union antitrust law prohibits companies that
dominate their markets from offering big discounts if their main
aim is to exclude rivals, or if the discounts are only offered to
certain clients.“Dominant firms can only justify discounts under EU rules if
they can prove that the discounts are designed to generate cost
savings, rather than purely being a way to beat off the
competition…”
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