WinInsider

A consortium of Microsoft foes accused the Redmond, Washington-based software giant of once again violating antitrust laws on the same day that a Silicon Valley digital rights management firm sued the company for patent infringement.

But a Microsoft spokesperson disputed Procomp's accusations, at least with respect to Windows Media Player and the much-anticipated new version of its Windows OS. Spokesperson Jim Cullinan told reporters that these latest charges are "the reverse" of the government's argument with regard to its Internet Explorer Web browser. "I wish folks would make up their minds about what position they're going to take on this," said Cullinan.

Neal Goldman, director of Internet competitive strategies at Boston-based research firm Yankee Group, told NewsFactor Network that he believes Procomp's stance is baseless. "It's nuisance publicity," Goldman told NewsFactor. "It has no real merit in either the consumer or marketplace domination issue." "In fact, [Microsoft's strategy] potentially reverses their competitive advantage for their Media Player by limiting it only to Windows XP," Goldman added. Mike Silver, research director of client operating systems for Gartner/Dataquest, agreed with Goldman. "Microsoft won't deliver the latest Windows Media Player for other platforms. That includes older versions of Windows as well as the Mac and Linux platforms," Silver told NewsFactor. "The interesting thing will be whether Microsoft can get people to adopt their media technology when it's only available on the new OS."