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Comment by gehsty | Hacker News Reader

Feels a bit like your forgetting Skype for business and lync already existed. I kinda agree with your point but I also feel it’s unfair on Microsoft, they are giving their customers more services for the same price, and the customers are using the services… I’m not sure the customer really loses out if ms are saving them another subscription + integration cost.

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> I’m not sure the customer really loses out if ms are saving them another subscription + integration cost.

Not only the customer will pay the price 10 fold down the line, the entire industry/ecosystem will suffer after Microsoft effectively kill every alternative product.

They're not doing the customers a favor. It's a business 101 tactic to dominate the market. In the end, the customer will be abused and strangled with no other option to turn to.

Is it not a case the market will fix - if Microsoft increases costs in an attempt to strangle the customer, the higher prices create an opportunity for new players?

There is no justification, this is just more thinly-veiled rent-seeking from the EU.

Right, the EC is desperate to get that fraction of a percent of its budget from that pure, innocent, freedom-loving American company. Makes complete sense…

What is actually happening is that the American government is dysfunctional and can’t be arsed to do its job.

The fines the eu want are percentages of global revenue, so will be significant sums of money. Maybe they are not so bothered about the money but want to disadvantage the us corperations.

For me the US has largely got it right and EU wrong. You can see this in the number of EU based tech giants. Would the EU be bringing these laws if Apple / google were European?

Rent-seeking since 1995!

Welcome back, I missed the fearmongering you were so well-known for back when the EU Commission announced their investigation. You're probably someone with a sizable 401k or Roth IRA, I'm guessing?

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