Microsoft, eine private Firma, die auf der ganzen Welt Geschäfte
macht und sich somit den jeweiligen Gesetzgebungen unterwirft, so wie
das jede andere Firma auch tut. Nun wird ihr von einer öffentlichen
Institution Fehlverhalten nachwgewiesen und es wird rechtmässig eine
Busse verhängt. Soweit so schön. Nun kommen zehn amerikanische
Politiker auf die Idee, aktiv in diesen Prozess einzugreifen.
Es ist egal, ob man mit Herrn Monti einverstanden ist oder nicht.
Microsoft hat die Möglichkeit, ihren Standpunkt vor Gericht zu
vertreten und juristisch zu überzeugen. Was aber um alles in der Welt
gibt einem amerikanischen Politiker das Recht, sich aktiv in diese
Sache einzumischen?
Als ich die Geschichte und die Äusserungen von Senatorin Murray
gestern auf Groklaw gelesen habe, ist mir derart der Atem
weggeblieben, dass ich mich nicht zurückhalten konnte und ihr über
ihre Webseite (http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm) nen kleinen
Text zukommen liess, den ich hier nicht vorenthalten will:
| Dear Senator Murray
|
| I am not a citizen of the EU but I although feel I must
| express my strong disagreement with you regarding your
| public statements about the Microsoft antitrust case
| handled by the European Competition Commissioner.
|
| Microsoft is doing business in Europe and so it operates
| under EU law. The very same goes for companies of any
| other contry doing business in the United States - they
| are obliged to respect United States law. The list of
| cases where companies from other countries were lawfully
| fined in the United States because the broke US laws is
| long. The US has every right to do this. If you want to
| earn money in the US, you have got to follow the rules.
| Very simple, true and justified. I for one can really not
| see why you are questioning the very same right of the EU.
|
| I see that as a senator from Washington where Microsoft HQ
| is located, you have every interest to defend this company.
| But I cannot stress enough that this is a case where it's
| not about national interests of the United States or of your
| state; it's a case of laws that have been broken in the
| Europan Union by a company doing business there. Microsoft
| is not being fined for business they did in the United States,
| so there is no reason whatsoever to say that the EU is
| "assaulting" American Industry.
|
| What I find truly irritating is that you are calling on the
| Bush administration to "engage" in this matter. Senator, the
| EU is a sovereign instituion with elected officials. There
| has been an official investigation that lasted for years by
| a government agency which now has proposed the imposal of a
| fine which again was accepted by an official commission. I
| can not understand why you apparently seem to lack the
| understanding of these procedures. Moreover, I am not very
| clear about what you mean by saying that "the EU has now
| directly attacked the authority of the United States".
| Senator, it seems to me that by saying all this, you are
| yourself attacking the authority of the European Union.
|
| Thank you very much for taking the time reading my thoughts.
--Kil
macht und sich somit den jeweiligen Gesetzgebungen unterwirft, so wie
das jede andere Firma auch tut. Nun wird ihr von einer öffentlichen
Institution Fehlverhalten nachwgewiesen und es wird rechtmässig eine
Busse verhängt. Soweit so schön. Nun kommen zehn amerikanische
Politiker auf die Idee, aktiv in diesen Prozess einzugreifen.
Es ist egal, ob man mit Herrn Monti einverstanden ist oder nicht.
Microsoft hat die Möglichkeit, ihren Standpunkt vor Gericht zu
vertreten und juristisch zu überzeugen. Was aber um alles in der Welt
gibt einem amerikanischen Politiker das Recht, sich aktiv in diese
Sache einzumischen?
Als ich die Geschichte und die Äusserungen von Senatorin Murray
gestern auf Groklaw gelesen habe, ist mir derart der Atem
weggeblieben, dass ich mich nicht zurückhalten konnte und ihr über
ihre Webseite (http://murray.senate.gov/email/index.cfm) nen kleinen
Text zukommen liess, den ich hier nicht vorenthalten will:
| Dear Senator Murray
|
| I am not a citizen of the EU but I although feel I must
| express my strong disagreement with you regarding your
| public statements about the Microsoft antitrust case
| handled by the European Competition Commissioner.
|
| Microsoft is doing business in Europe and so it operates
| under EU law. The very same goes for companies of any
| other contry doing business in the United States - they
| are obliged to respect United States law. The list of
| cases where companies from other countries were lawfully
| fined in the United States because the broke US laws is
| long. The US has every right to do this. If you want to
| earn money in the US, you have got to follow the rules.
| Very simple, true and justified. I for one can really not
| see why you are questioning the very same right of the EU.
|
| I see that as a senator from Washington where Microsoft HQ
| is located, you have every interest to defend this company.
| But I cannot stress enough that this is a case where it's
| not about national interests of the United States or of your
| state; it's a case of laws that have been broken in the
| Europan Union by a company doing business there. Microsoft
| is not being fined for business they did in the United States,
| so there is no reason whatsoever to say that the EU is
| "assaulting" American Industry.
|
| What I find truly irritating is that you are calling on the
| Bush administration to "engage" in this matter. Senator, the
| EU is a sovereign instituion with elected officials. There
| has been an official investigation that lasted for years by
| a government agency which now has proposed the imposal of a
| fine which again was accepted by an official commission. I
| can not understand why you apparently seem to lack the
| understanding of these procedures. Moreover, I am not very
| clear about what you mean by saying that "the EU has now
| directly attacked the authority of the United States".
| Senator, it seems to me that by saying all this, you are
| yourself attacking the authority of the European Union.
|
| Thank you very much for taking the time reading my thoughts.
--Kil