SEATTLE/BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Microsoft Corp stepped up its rivalry with Google Inc, claiming in its first-ever complaint to antitrust regulators that Google systematically thwarts Internet search competition.
The formal complaint to European Commission regulators marks a role change for Microsoft, itself the target of antitrust action for two decades in the United States and Europe.
“The filing of this complaint reflects one of the greatest ironies of antitrust history,” said Thomas Vinje, global head of antitrust practice at Clifford Chance, who led a coalition that won EU fines against Microsoft.
“Microsoft has learned from its own unpleasant experiences how to cause maximum disruption for its competitors via competition law.”
The complaint also underscores the erosion of Microsoft’s near-monopoly of the personal computer market as Apple Inc has outgrown it in revenue. Google controls over 90 percent of the Internet search advertising market in Europe, well ahead of Microsoft’s Bing. And Web browsers such as
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