Windows Browser Ballot Glitch Cost Firefox 6-9 Million Downloads 245
nk497 writes "Microsoft's failure to include the EU browser ballot in Windows 7 SP1 cost Mozilla as many as 9 million Firefox downloads, the organization's head of business affairs revealed. Harvey Anderson said daily downloads of Firefox fell by 63% to a low of 20,000 before the ballot was reinstated, and after the fix, downloads jumped by 150% to 50,000 a day. Over the 18 months the ballot was missing, that adds up to six to nine million downloads — although it's tough to tell if the difference has more to do with Chrome's success or the lack of advertising on Windows systems. The EU is currently investigating the 'glitch,' and Microsoft faces a massive fine for failing to include the screen, which offers download details for different browsers to European Windows users, as part of measures ordered by the EU to balance IE's dominance."
Re:Really? (Score:5, Interesting)
This is an anti trust issue rather than a theft one.
Are you abusing your monopoly power so competitors literally cannot give their product away for free - that's a competition issue. This is by the way, a business strategy, if you have enough money you can cut your prices enough, or sell a new product cheap enough, and make enough deals that no one can afford to buy your competitors product, but they can buy yours (even if that is incurring a loss for you). The issue with Microsoft is whether their 90% windows marketshare, which is essentially a monopoly is being abused to prevent other companies, such as mozilla, from staying in the market. If that is the case, we don't really want to end up in a world where there is one viable internet browser choice, and that's internet explorer.
Are you copying something for free that you legally should need to pay for - theft/piracy/counterfeiting/licensing whatever you want to call it issue.
Econ 101 (Score:1, Interesting)
Whether you pefre Milton Friedman to the Fight Club school of economics or not, they both share one thing in common. The Chicago School of business (ethics) taught that there is only a simple cost/benefit calculation necessary to determine whether or not to follow the law. If the cost breaking the law is less than the cost of getting caught, you break the law.
In the Fight Club, Ed Norton's character extends this argument to an example a cost/benefit question regarding a potential automobile recall for a flaw resulting with potentially life/death consequences. It's a great example of the need to temper 'free market fundamentalism' with the understanding that there are moral and ethical questions which, if left to those who equate only $'s and market dominance to success.
Since market dominance is reinforces itself (i.e, "Nothing succedes like success."), if we want corporations to act ethically or morally, we need leadership from above. And after Hurrican Sandy, my faith that God will save us, or even inspire us, to address the brewing catastrophes ahead from the anthropomorphic effects we're creating on the planet, has 'dried up'.
But the EU is another story. My hope is that they fine Microsoft the maximum and realize that it's not enough, thereby changing their laws to increase the penalties for rigging the market. Perhaps that would give U.S. senators and representives a working model from which to address the corporate architecture of our society.
Nah... God is a better bet.
Re:Still dont get it (Score:5, Interesting)
That's because it is a good thing when done right. Most in US screaming about socialism being bad seem to fail to notice that socialism was one of the most powerful drivers behind the rise and staying power of the middle class. 60s and 70s, often hailed as the golden age of USA were the time when the country was very socialist. Taxes on the rich were extremely high and social security net was quite wide-reaching.
It's in fact a very interesting argument that shrinking of middle class is currently going hand in hand with cutting of socialism in favour of capitalism in many strata of society.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Interesting)
They're not interpolating two data points. Have you looked at the charts? There's clearly a strong drop off around the time where the ballot was removed, and a big re-uptake when it was reinstated.
Yes, but in the article it also states stats from another company show: "In Europe across that time, Firefox and IE both appear to be falling together, suggesting Chrome is the one benefiting from the lack of browser ballot."
One thing I don't understand tho, this is just SP1, so it's an update to Win7, meaning whatever browsers they have installed will still be there after the update anyway, and there's no need to download again. Is it that they are only looking at full Windows installs where the OS already has SP1 ? I don't know if Win7 comes like that, or if it does how they can be separated from updates.