The EU Commission is rooting its judgments in language around consumer harm. Consumer harm is the acid test of a competitive market. For example, if I offer a better product at half the price and eliminate all competition, should I be forced to raise my price to protect competition? Obviously not, unless I then use my dominant position to raise prices – and run into very clear antitrust territory.

One question that might be raised, is why are computer manufacturers not bundling Opera on their systems? The answers could include: there is no demand for it; it is easily loaded at any time; it costs too much.

Another question is, what exactly are the rules?

Last time, it was unbundling. This time, it looks like bundling someone else’s product. If consumers still choose Microsoft, will the Commission reverse its decision?

Microsoft’s solution has positives, in that it pushes the issue to market forces. But obviously, the Commission expects the market to choose Microsoft, which is why they suggest the ballot button.

“However, in the presence of competitor complaints, a dominant market share, and consumers that don’t seem to care, the Commission is struggling to find a sensible remedy.”