Former Antitrust Authority director general David Tadmor signed an agreement with Microsoft (Nasdaq:MSFT) in 1999 under which any restrictions imposed on Microsoft by the US federal government would also apply to Microsoft Israel.
Consequently, all restrictions and bans on Microsoft operations in the operating systems market that became valid in November 2002 under the agreement between the US government and Microsoft also apply to Israel. The measures will moderate Microsoft Israel's market power.
This is the gist of a statement of response by State Prosecutor, through Adv. Avraham (Avi) Licht, to a petition sponsored by Online Freedom Forum head Oded Lavi.
The agreement was not published, and was only disclosed now as part of the state's response to the petition.
Lavi petitioned the High Court of Justice to order Antitrust Authority to declare Microsoft Israel a monopoly and to order the Ministry of Finance deputy accountant general to fight Microsoft Israel's dominance in government offices.
In its response, the state noted that then-Antitrust Authority director general David Tadmor had decided to reach an agreement with Microsoft, in order to save time and money.
The statement of response also notes that Tadmor had not conceded all of his claims against Microsoft. Therefore, current Antitrust Authority director general Dror Strum decided to examine whether to declare Microsoft Israel a monopoly in the office software and operating systems markets, on the basis of the unique competitive conditions in the Israeli market.
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on October 7, 2003