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Security vendor Symantec Corp.
accused Microsoft on Wednesday of abusing its
monopoly in deciding which security products
can run on its upcoming operating system.
Symantec said Microsoft Corp., which started
selling its own security products in May, is
deliberately withholding information needed
to develop products that work on Windows Vista.
"Microsoft is using their dominant position
to regulate what security can be provided on
their system and how that security is provided,"
said Rowan Trollope, Symantec's vice president
for consumer engineering. "Microsoft has
regulated what choices are there: 'You're going
to have our stuff no matter what.'"
Although Symantec hasn't filed a formal complaint,
the Cupertino, California, security company
said it is going public with the concerns to
pressure Microsoft to release software development
kits that would allow rival products to communicate
with Vista's new security features, including
a dashboard designed to help customers easily
see what protection programs are switched on.
European antitrust regulators have warned Microsoft
not to shut out rivals in the security software
market as it builds more security into Vista.
The European Union and Redmond, Washington-based
Microsoft are still involved in long battle
over a 2004 EU ruling that found the software
company guilty of abusing its monopoly to break
into new markets.
Symantec said it may make a formal complaint
to the European Commission if Microsoft does
not respond. The EU has quizzed security firms
about problems they might have with Vista and
has said it will take action if it believes
Microsoft is breaking antitrust law.
Microsoft is scheduled to ship Vista soon, beginning
with business customers in November, and Symantec
wants to have its products ready by then.
Specifically Symantec is looking for software
interfaces for the security dashboard and for
Microsoft's anti-spyware program, Defender.
Microsoft said Friday it had uploaded the Defender
to a Web site for partners, but Symantec said
Microsoft ought to give it to rival vendors
as well.
"What they've said is: 'We'll give it to
you the day Vista ships,'" Trollope said.
Adrien Robinson, a director in Microsoft's security
technology unit, said Wednesday that Microsoft
did make changes late in the game allowing security
software companies to turn off Defender and
offer their own, similar application.
She said Microsoft has been working closely
with companies including Symantec to provide
them with the tools they need to address the
changes before Vista ships.
Symantec said it had faced similar problems
with Windows Firewall but Microsoft eventually
backed down under pressure. It believes Microsoft
has backed off from co-operating with vendors
since it entered the security market with its
anti-virus and firewall product OneCare, which
Microsoft began testing in May 2005.
"The dialogue has been severely curtailed
over the last year to a year and a half,"
Trollope said. "We've talked to them till
they are blue in the face. They wouldn't move."
Symantec said the launch of OneCare had not
affected its sales — describing it as "a
blip on the radar" — but worries that
customers may be influenced by a link to OneCare
appearing on Vista's welcome screen.
More widely, Symantec accuses Microsoft of regulating
what security products will succeed in the future,
saying design choices it made for Vista select
what security programs the customers sees. Customers
rarely change default settings, the company
said, and are unlikely to switch away from the
presets that come with their PC.
Robinson, however, argued that Microsoft in
recent years has given companies like Symantec
even more access than before.
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