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."
Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
We're calculating lost downloads, now? And I thought lost sales due to piracy was a stupid metric...
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.
Re:Really? (Score:5, Funny)
Are you abusing your monopoly power...
How does one abuse a sadomasochistic client? By talking politely and serving crumpets and tea?
Re:Really? (Score:5, Insightful)
Actually, this is a matter of breach of contract. When it became obvious that Microsoft was in violation in the anti-trust hearings at the court, they made an offer to the court: they will solve the problem by putting browser ballot into the OS. This was Microsoft's own suggestion. Court agreed and Microsoft entered into a contract with the court stating how and when it will implement this ballot.
Microsoft stalled a few times. However the problem didn't arise because court was always willing to grand Microsoft extensions to the deadline. However at one point, folks representing Microsoft admitted to the court at the hearing about another delay that it wasn't implemented at all.
It was probably a dumbest move of all times really. All they had to do was keep their mouths shut about it not being implemented and ask for yet another extension and court would have likely granted it.
So this is very much not about anti-trust any more. This is about Microsoft not honouring a contract, and penalties associated with this.
Re:Really? (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, this is a matter of breach of contract.
Sure, the contract only exists because of the anti competitive monopolistic practices, but yes, ultimately Microsoft agreed to do something and isn't. But the underlying idea that this is like the made up statistics about piracy is a bit misleading. These rules all exists, and these contracts all exist because of microsofts bad behaviour.
Re: (Score:3)
> Copyright exists because people cannot be trusted to respect the wishes of artists and/or financially support them
False. It was invented by _publishers_ to maintain control by preventing other publishers from making a profit !
* http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_copyright_law [wikipedia.org] [wikipedia.org]
"The history of copyright law starts with early privileges and monopolies granted to printers of books. The British Statute of Anne 1710, full title "An Act for the Encouragement of Learning, by vesting the Cop
Re: (Score:3)
I would argue that copyright law began in Alexandria. If only today's copyright law looked like their copyright law, things would be better. Or perhaps, vice versa.
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
No. Stop. Right there. It's exactly the same as the record companies claiming that every person who pirated a CD would have bought it anyway. The fact that this is about Microsoft and Mozilla is irrelevant. The claim that the glitch "costed" 6.9 million downloads is fatally flawed and disingenuous.
This is completely incidental to what type of issue this is.
Re: (Score:2)
Uh, what about Microsoft prevents them from literally being unable to give their product away for free?
I grant that I always saw this as a bit strange. I think the point isn't browsers, browsers are just the lead in point on the platform. What's to stop MS from bundling in a store, and anti virus, an office suite a ..... ? If you let them control the entire experience you risk severely limiting consumer choice.
Browsers are important because we could end up back at the days of IE not doing anything standards compliant - could they basically railroad people into building a web that is only compatible with I
Re: (Score:2)
The argument sounds hollow when you look at the bundling that occurs with the other OSes. There is no ballot option for any of the Linux distributions or OS X, yet people are able to use yum, apt or Safari to get their preferred browser. Prior to th
Re: (Score:2)
MSFT ain't got a monopoly on shit
Microsoft retains its monopoly on the desktop, whether that is relevant at all is a totally different discussion.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
If only - If only - People had another way to get a browser [mozilla.org] than to pick from a menu when they first use Windows! Some sort of, I dunno, website or something [getfirefox.net], where they could choose to go to get whatever browser they prefer.
Alas, we do not live in a perfect world.
Re:Really? (Score:4, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Re:Really? (Score:4, Insightful)
Sarcasm, yes. Trolling, no.
If someone doesn't know enough to know that they want something other than MSIE, then in most cases, they don't. Making them pick a browser on first use amount to a complete crap-shoot. Sure, they might pick FF or Chrome, and get lucky (though personally, I have more philosophical objections to Chrome - which don't apply to Chromium - than to MSIE). Or they might pick Safari, now deprecated for Windows, and end up in a far worse situation than just defaulting to MSIE.
Re:Really? (Score:5, Funny)
Render HTML properly?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
The difference is, this case was clearly controlled. You can't just turn piracy off, measure the sales, turn it on and measure again. But in this case that's what's happened, the ballot was turned off and then on again, and this showed a strong correlation with the change in downloads.
Re: (Score:2)
It isn't controlled, as there is no control group.
Re: (Score:2)
That is essentially what happened here.
Re: (Score:2)
We're calculating lost downloads, now? And I thought lost sales due to piracy was a stupid metric...
It's not when they go down 63% when the glitch occurs and come back to normal the day it's been fixed. This is not about counting every user who pirates something as potential buyer, this is more like seeing your sales go down when a crack comes out and then go back up when the crack no longer works.
hoarding on the margin (Score:2)
Surprise, you thought right. Your thinking today, however, is a different matter. You do realize that it's impossible to discuss causal relationships in any meaningful way without projecting counterfactuals. Sometimes you have a projectable baseline, sometimes you don't. Many times the causes of things are a hazy guess. It's only regret that's 20-20.
The problem with the music industry's desire to claim e
Re: (Score:2)
Shovelware proves that more is more.
Did you mean bundled malware? Shovelware is where someone puts more stuff on a CD (or whatever) just because there's room and more is more.
Re: (Score:2)
Reminds me of when RIAA went after pirates of "The Love Guru"...
You can hardly call it a lost sale if no-one really wanted it in the first place.
I stopped installing Firefox onto all the machines I work on earlier this year when Flash instances started crashing it. This has been going on since about Firefox 13-present and Flash 11-present. I'm not going to mourn the eventual death of Flash, but I'm not limiting my browsing while I wait for the websites I use to replace it. If I wanted a sucky web experience
Re:Really? (Score:5, Informative)
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.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Dr. Evil working in Redmond? (Score:4, Insightful)
How do you explain something like this? Would you think with all the people Microsoft has in their employ they would assign the duty of EU Compliance Checklist Monitor to someone?
Re: (Score:2)
How do you explain something like this? Would you think with all the people Microsoft has in their employ they would assign the duty of EU Compliance Checklist Monitor to someone?
I'd be surprised if they didn't, but then he got re-orged.
Re: (Score:2)
How do you explain something like this? Would you think with all the people Microsoft has in their employ they would assign the duty of EU Compliance Checklist Monitor to someone?
I'd be surprised if they didn't, but then he got re-orged.
Or if like I work, the person in that position is the dumping ground for all the little tasks others are too busy to do, don't want to do, or dump there because they feel they can get away with it.
Re: (Score:2)
How do you explain something like this?
Hundreds or thousands of engineers working on something and a technically unimportant piece slipping through the cracks?
Would you think with all the people Microsoft has in their employ they would assign the duty of EU Compliance Checklist Monitor to someone?
I would expect it to be a lawyer who's not embedded in the engineering department and didn't see the need or even realize the potential of checking a service pack. Taking into account that this probably isn't their primary version of windows, and it seems pretty easy for this to legitimately slip through the cracks.
"glitch" (Score:4, Insightful)
Re: (Score:3, Informative)
How is this Microsoft's issue? It was the OEM's fault for using the non-EU version of Windows service packs.
The "Glitch" (Score:5, Insightful)
The "glitch" is a result of OEMs integrating the wrong version of service packs into their images.
When they integrate the non-EU version of a service pack then the image won't present the "ballot screen" to the user.
Re:The "Glitch" (Score:5, Insightful)
[citation required].
Every source I have read on the web shows Microsoft admitting to the "error" themselves, not blaming it on OEMs.
Re: (Score:2)
As I said earlier, citation required. I have not seen any reports that the browser ballot problem affected only certain OEMs (which would imply a mistake by the OEMs). I find it hard to believe that all OEMs would make the same mistake, so the alternative is that the cause originated in Redmond.
Someone else posted that thay bought a retail copy of Windows and it did not have the browser ballot. No OEM involved.
And finally, MS doesn't have a QA process that involves getting hold of machines from major OEMs s
Re: (Score:2)
For your assertion to be correct, your post would have to be truth. However, it's not so your reply is irrelevant.
That said, the GGP doesn't really back up the veracity of their own statement.
Re: (Score:3)
For your assertion to be correct, your post would have to be truth. However, it's not so your reply is irrelevant.
Oh, so their practice of having OEM versions of Windows that OEMs are allowed to modify is not responsible for the loads of horrible software loaded onto the typical new computer?
And that practice, if I'm not mistaken, is also dependent on the OEM towing the line and selling only systems with Microsoft software preloaded. Is this not also true?
Re: (Score:2)
And what happens to the OEM's deal with Microsoft if they sell some other OS on their box?
Re: (Score:2)
However, that settlement only covered the US. Do you really expect people to believe that Microsoft would not attempt (and perhaps achieve) the same type of agreements for non-US vendors selling to non-US countries? As for showing it in writing, do your really think that Microsoft would publish (or allow to be published) such an agreement?
The problem for Mic
How about other companies? (Score:2)
Why isn't other companies like Apple forced to include a browser selection screen in OSX?
Re:How about other companies? (Score:4, Informative)
Because nobody has taken Apple to court and proved they are abusing monopolism of a market.
Simple as that. Doesn't even mean they *aren't* doing just that. But nobody has bothered to take them to court for it. And it's not just governments that can do that, but their competitors too.
Re: (Score:2)
Now the EU don't like monopolies and accused MS - rightly - of some underhandedness in getting their browser in front of punters by including it in the OS and not allowing it to be removed (even though you could just 'not use it', weird). Cue the Ballot Screen (which sucks).
Personally, I think the playing field since around 2010 can be considered levelled an
Re: (Score:2)
Because anyone claiming Apple has now, or has ever possessed, monopoly power in a market is very confused. It is perfectly legal to use one of your products to force people to use another of your products, unless you have monopoly power.
Re: (Score:2)
Why is this still relevant? (Score:3, Informative)
IE isn't even the most popular browser in most EU countries any more:
http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Countries_by_most_used_web_browser.svg&page=1 [wikipedia.org]
And according to Wikimedia usage stats, at least, it's not even leading in usage share any more, anyway:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usage_share_of_web_browsers [wikipedia.org]
Pundits are already predicting the end of Microsoft as a dominant player in the industry (which *is* a bit of an exaggeration, so far at least), yet they are still forced to adhere to an almost 10-year old anti-trust decision (an eternity in the industry). In other news, the EU is also considering sanctions against US Steel for their dominant control of the industry in 1955.
Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
I don't really think that's the real reason - Europe is a minority of world Internet users and can't be soley responsible for IE market share going from 80% to 20%. Chrome didn't even exist in 2004 and it's now #1.
Re: (Score:2)
Microsoft agreed to this (Score:5, Insightful)
Because this is what Microsoft agreed to.
Its not a decision, its an agreement they entered into to avoid a trial and a resulting decision. Its quite possible that an actual decision, rather than a negotiated settlement, would have involved greater up-front cost but less in terms of long-term, ongoing restrictions. Microsoft made a choice that they'd rather have what they are now subject to than take the risk of the kind of fines and other up-front consequences at risk in a trial. That may or may not have been a bad decision in retrospect, but it was Microsoft's decision.
Re: (Score:2)
More relevant than ever!
Until MacOSX, Linux, and tablets start gaining more momentium it gives IE an unfair advantage and pisses off webmasters!
Want a cool fluid HTML 5 of slashdot? Nope aint happening. What about bbc news? Nope aint happening. Anysite? Yeah on your phone NOT PC. Why? The answer is IE ... make that old IE since IE 9 has some support and iE 10 with full HTML 5 is right around the corner for Windows 7 hopefully this year.
Seriously if that browser was not standard in the US, Canada, an
Re: (Score:2)
Until MacOSX, Linux, and tablets start gaining more momentum it gives IE an unfair advantage and pisses off webmasters!
Now THIS is completely irrelevant. IE doesn't even exist on those platforms, and it's absurd to think a government body should be responsible for actively trying to influence market competition for different operating systems rather than what they actually did, which was encourage competition of browsers on one system (in response to Microsoft using uncompetitive practices to limit other
Re: (Score:2)
If a *server* side web app only supports a crappy browser like IE6 that's the fault of the server developers, not the crappy browser they are targeting. It used to be a big pain to support all of them, it's a minor pain now, but plenty of companies made the effort.
My point is trying to have the government step in for the *reason* that you don't like the quality of their browser makes no sense. If they are using illegal anti-competitive practices to get their market share, the government should absolutely
Users choose a pretty icon? :) (Score:4, Insightful)
So, does this mean that the only reason Firefox is getting those downloads, is because users are bored and pick a pretty icon from the list? :)
Cause even bing.com shows Firefox download page on the first page of "Firefox" query so I'm not sure I can believe in extra 50K people not being able to get Firefox if they want it.
I know users sometimes are not smart enough to find and download something, but this is ridiculous...
Re: (Score:2)
Yep. Most users are pretty dumb and this is true especially with the aging baby boomers who are 45+ and hate change. They would buy systems with XP still if it were offered. Maybe they once used that Fox Fire browser methingie their kids installed on their older computer but why risk and try to find it?
IE 9 is actually usable now and not a bad browser. My guess is they just got used to that.
Now those who read slashdot are in the minority and younger users have no quarrel googling chrome or Firefox. But ther
Develop a search engine (Score:4, Funny)
Re: (Score:3)
If said car manufacturer had a monopoly on cars and was attempting a monopoly on perfume then the EU would say yes.
Re:Still dont get it (Score:4, Insightful)
Because they themselves suggested it to the court. Both the idea and implementation of browser ballot were microsoft's own suggestions to the court.
Re:Still dont get it (Score:5, Funny)
Look at the whole French Newspaper/Google debacle that's going on right now. It's a direct symptom of socialism. That's what you get when everyone is entitled to a cut of everyone else's work.
The more you peeps post bashing socialism, the more it sounds like a good thing. It's like the corporations are so afraid of people turning to socialism, they go around reminding us that is what they are afraid of.
We get more people bashing socialism then we get people suggesting it. Maybe there is something to this socialism idea after all...
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: (Score:3)
Re: (Score:2)
Just like capitalism/free markets, when done correctly it's great and absolutely vital to the welfare of the nation. It's when things are taken too far that we have problems.
Sorry, I don't understand. Would you be so kind as to provide an analogy in which slightest traces of either approach will be conflated with the worst excesses of either Nazi Germany and Stalinist Russia (or both)? I think I'm not the only one requiring this service.
Re: (Score:2)
Socialism is not about taxing the rich and providing a security net. America, thank your stars, has never actually faced socialism. The golden period you describe was one of balance - between the rights of business owners and society at large. Your government wasn't over regulating in such a manner as to hamper business, nor was it the way it is now, entirely on the side of Wall Street.
If America was socialist, everything would've been nationalized. I can quote India as an example - the Congress party here
Re: (Score:2)
Then explain, rather than criticise.... Be constructive...
Re: (Score:2)
Agreed, and while, due to my age, I have fond memories of the 70's, I seem to recall that there was, a "malaise" if you will. in fact, I remember TONS of unemployment and people going hungry, stealing gas, etc in the 70's. Not sure this socialist paradise was as nice as perhaps believed.
Re: (Score:2)
But most of the current uplifting is done through technological progress. And with us clearly exhausting the low hanging fruit of it, we're seeing a very clear decline for young people.
If you look at predictions, while those young people who are still employed are well off, we're looking at the first generation that will on average have a worse life in terms of financial security then their parents. That means that technological progress is no longer able to outperform the stress caused on the system by soc
Re: (Score:2)
In that instance it strikes me more as protectionism than socialism - the French government are considering measures to aid their local businesses, at a cost to a foreign business which is muscling into their territory. Capitalist governments also take various protectionist measures to safeguard their home industries - often by disadvantaging foreign companies more directly through import duties, etc. For instance, the Conservative government in the UK moved to block EU laws that would have disadvantaged
Copyright and Socialism v. Capitalism (Score:2)
Participants in industry lobbying for strong copyright protection is a direct symptom of socialism now? I suppose that might be the case -- is some land of up-is-down, wet-is-dry, and day-is-night.
Well, its more what you get when copyright holders (not everyone) is entitled to a cut of any work that leverages the ma
Re: (Score:3)
I are badly informed, they crack down on EU companies too, no problem.
If you do business in the EU market and abuse your power as a business, you will be smacked.
Re:LOL extrapolation (Score:5, Informative)
When you have data points both before and after the time period you are trying to estimate the values for it isn't extrapolation you idiot. It's interpolation.
Re: (Score:3)
Which has absolutely nothing to do with it not being extrapolation.
Re: (Score:2)
2. If they're so dumb that they don't immediately use IE to download a better browser, does the Mozilla Foundation really want them as users?!
Re: (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Consistency (Score:4, Insightful)
It's a good thing that they demand this of Microsoft. I mean, without setting this precedent, how else could we be offered the chance to freely and without jumping over hurdles obtain Firefox (or Chrome, for that matter) on our iPhones?
The iPhone is, in the US at least, at ~33% market share. Come back when they have a 80-90% and I (and the regulators) might start listening.
Re: (Score:3)
One person isn't saying both things.
Re: (Score:2)
One person isn't saying both things.
One person doesn't have to be. Reality tells you via actual verifiable facts that iOS is not a monopoly, thus the GP's post is nonsense (or calls for a world where the government can force any business to sell something it doesn't want to).
Re: (Score:2)
So what you're saying is that OS X and Linux are not viable competitors to Windows?
Oh, Windows isn't a monopoly. Gotcha.
So what's this all about again?
Re: (Score:3)
So what you're saying is that OS X and Linux are not viable competitors to Windows?
Oh, Windows isn't a monopoly. Gotcha.
So what's this all about again?
That is exactly what I am saying, in terms of marketshare. OS X is currently at around 7% (but of new sales, makes up about 20%), and Linux is.... considerably below that. At the time of the court ruling, those numbers were further skewed towards Microsoft. Microsoft was found guilty by a court of abusing its monopoly position in the OS market, hence the subsequent restrictions placed on it.
It is absolutely not possible for Apple to be in that position since it never reached monopoly status in the smartphon
Re:Money? (Score:5, Funny)
Does the EU have weapon of mass destruction by any chance?
Yes, they have Greece :)
Re: (Score:2)
Does the EU have weapon of mass destruction by any chance?
Yes, they have Greece :)
and Spain.
Re: (Score:3)
Mass destruction, not cash destruction
Re: (Score:2)
No, but the EU parliament could be considered a weapon of mass distraction, does that count, too?
Re:Money? (Score:4, Funny)
Does the EU have weapon of mass destruction by any chance?
Yes. Both the UK and France are part of the EU, and both have nuclear weapons.
Yes, but they both have launch control systems that run on Windows. MSFT wins again.
(That's supposed to be funny. Laugh you bastards.)
Re:Why do they even play along? (Score:5, Insightful)
Because MS make more money from the EU market and sell more goods/services to it than anywhere else. Yes, that includes the US. You're second. Same as in a lot of IT markets. Hell, some of the gaming markets you're not even third.
You can piss them off if you like, but that's the LARGEST market they deal with. Same for Google, eBay and lots of other companies that deal internationally.
Ignore the fine and they seize your assets (i.e. freeze your bank accounts), which means zero effective business in that region. That's billions of Euros lost every year because you got stroppy and didn't pay a fine that you were legally required to pay.
Think that's fiction? They were >50% of your assets, sales and money (i.e. anything stored in the EU, or held by the EU, or sold to the EU) overnight is no small thing. And if you do business in the EU, you're liable to EU taxes and law (including fines) NO MATTER WHAT, so they'd literally just get other countries to take that from your bank account and pay it, no matter where you tried to hide it.
And, as it was, the US investigated this same matter and decided not to do anything. The EU investigated it and charged them billions. AND THEY PAID. Because it's the most incredibly stupid thing in the world not to. The EU literally have the power to say "No, you can't sell Windows" if they like.
Re:Why do they even play along? (Score:4)
Completely false. According to http://www.advfn.com/p.php?pid=financials&symbol=NASDAQ%3AMSFT [advfn.com]
Foreign Sales: $34,877mil
Domestic Sales: $38,846mil
Re: (Score:3)
I still have a hard time understanding why Microsoft even plays along with this. I would be like "It's my OS, it will have my browser. Suck it or don't use it."
Because Microsoft cares about making money, not about proving some ideological point. As long as doing business in the EU is a substantial net profit, they will keep doing so.
How is Apple a MUCH worse offender? (Score:5, Insightful)
Presumably when Apple first has a monopoly in some market, and then illegally leverages that monopoly to gain power in an existing, separate market, and then makes a settlement agreement like Microsoft made to resolve the anti-trust charges over that leveraging, and then violates that agreement the way Microsoft did that is at issue here.
Re: (Score:2)
As soon as they get to about 90% PC marketshare (don't get pedantic on the "PC" term). They're at what, 15% or so these days? (growing but far from being an abusive monopoly)
Microsoft abused their power by preventing vendors from bundling other browsers. Apple isn't abusing anyone: they make the hardware.
Android has a higher percentage of the smart phone market than Apple has in the PC market. Google has 90%+ of search traffic. You get a new Android, and do a search in the default browser, it defaults to Go
Re: (Score:2)
Sure you can! Not like it matters anyway.
Re: (Score:2)
Correct, but IE was a part of it. Microsoft was using it's monopoly power to prevent OEMs from bundling other browsers.
Re: (Score:2)
God or a sensible EU parliament... hmm... guess I don't get a choice that's not mythological?
You are an idiot. (Score:2, Insightful)
And you don't know the difference between interpolation and extrapolation.
Extrapolation makes assumptions about future and they fail when something extraordinary happens in the future.
Interpolation makes assumptions about past - it's like assuming that missing numbers in 1 2 3 4 ... ... 7 8 9 should have been 5 and 6. Knowing that actual numbers there were 1 and 2 we can assume something out of ordinary happened. Like MS messing up the ballot, for example.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
This article states that Google paid (bribed) Mozilla to be their default search provider regardless if there was 1 installation of Firefox or 9 million, so again, Microsoft cost Mozilla nothing because Mozilla already has the money in hand.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
You must be a hoot at parties.
Re: (Score:3)