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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Microsoft Concedes Other Web Browsers

From Staff And Wire Reports

Internet service providers that have deals with Microsoft Corp. will be allowed to promote Web browsers made by competitors of the software giant.

What they still cannot do is promote a competitor more heavily than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

The change covers about 40 companies, affects a tiny fraction of Internet users, and is part of a year-end business review that was finalized Friday, company spokesman Mark Murray said Sunday. The Washington Post first reported the details Monday.

The move wasn’t prompted by the scrutiny of Microsoft business practices, including the marketing of browser software, by antitrust officials in the United States and Europe, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates told reporters today in Washington, D.C.

Gates acknowledged “there made been some informal questions from the European Union” about the agreements with Internet service providers but added there was “nothing ever formal there.”

Gates was in Washington to testify Tuesday before the Senate Judiciary Committee. He plans to defend Microsoft against charges that it has become a monopoly that unfairly crushes its opponents.