New report from MLex, with statements from Microsoft's top competition lawyer, Rima Alaily:
- She says that concerns about Big Tech companies expanding their "ecosystems" through acquisitions need to be "disciplined and rigorous".
- She urged antitrust regulators not to "demonize the very idea of an ecosystem," so long as it does not harm consumers.
- She gave the example of Microsoft's Windows PC operating system. Windows provides "an opportunity for thousands of developers, of businesses, of hardware suppliers to build around that and create new businesses, new technologies and drive growth. Most of the value of the ecosystem goes to these third parties, not to Microsoft, she said.
- She hoped such theories would not be used "in a blunt way to prevent large technology companies from expanding their business and entering new markets, just because they are large." She believes that sometimes large tech companies are "best placed to challenge the incumbent" on a market, and can be capable of driving competition and innovation. Challenging that may mean consumers could lose out on the benefits.
- She also said that authorities ought to be "measured and thoughtful" and try to understand whether there is a "mechanism for harm" such as tying or self-preferencing or the "leveraging" of one market to benefit another.
This is coming from this podcast, Jammin Digital, where Rima Alaily was interviewed. It’s 30 minutes long, so there has to be more.
Quite the PR blitz lately...
