Microsoft Edge keeps its front-row seat on Windows without EU gatekeeper label

Filed 52m ago · Via Courthouse News · The Buffoon Desk

THIS STORY IS SCORED

Waltz of the Carnies

Kevin MacLeod · incompetech.com · CC BY 4.0

Photo: U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Grace Lee · Public domain · via Wikimedia Commons

The EU's General Court upheld a European Commission decision keeping Microsoft Edge outside the Digital Markets Act's toughest gatekeeper rules, rejecting a challenge from Opera Norway. Edge passed the law's user threshold but, per the ruling, generated just 5.8% of European web page views in December 2022 versus 59% for Chrome and 22% for Safari.

Opera argued Windows gives Edge unfair advantages, pointing to preinstallation, taskbar pinning, and Bing Chat promotion, with Edge still only handling 20-30% of browsing even on Windows machines. The court found Microsoft's ecosystem only mattered if it translated into real market power, which the commission determined it hadn't.

Mozilla says Edge has grown more powerful since the review and renewed its push for designation, while Microsoft and the commission both welcomed the ruling. Opera must pay legal costs and has just over two months to appeal to the EU's highest court on questions of law.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.

✒ FROM THE EDITORIAL DESK

There's something almost admirable about arguing your product's failure to attract users is itself the proof it isn't dangerous. The regulatory logic holds until Edge's numbers move, at which point everyone gets to have this fight again.

Source: Read the original at Courthouse News → Scored: Waltz of the Carnies · Kevin MacLeod · CC BY 4.0

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