Microsoft's anti-piracy UK head Michaela Wardell told El Reg that the outcome was "a fantastic achievement within the channel for ripping off Brits."

F'xd

The software behemoth said such "undercutting" practice represented millions of pounds in lost revenues for distributors and resellers of Microsoft goods.

Or millions of pounds in increased costs for consumers?

-m-

Well its all just a one way street isn't it.

Job goes AWOL to India because it's cheaper to employ there. Free Market and a global one at that.

When a company buys from India to sell here, the only one that should get involved is the Inland Revenue and/or Customs and Excise. It is, after all, a Free Market and a Global one at that.

how the hell can this be legal?

why don't we see investigations into why and how the same product can be sold so much cheaper in one market compared to another? is the tax burden that high? if it costs so much to ship the same produce, how come these resellers can ship it and still charge less?

I'm sure there's a word that describes the "recommended reselling price"... something to do with a cartel?

besides, surely it is a sellers right to sell an item at whatever price they want.

If microsoft is allowed to get items manufactured cheaper abroad and then charge however much extra they want when they import it into whichever market they wish to sell it in why can't others do the same?

"what the market will bear"? pfffft, it's only being put up with cause all the other avenues get shut down.

Microsoft commits an act of price fixing in the UK. Of course, the employees in the legal department would never let the company admit to it.

... I call that "co-opting the legal system to enforce your illegal monopoly" myself. Well, as long as MS persists in criminal actions and perverting our democracy for personal gain, I see no reason not to happily rob them blind; they consider themselves to be above the law (well, to be the definition and arbiters of it), I consider them to be outside it (and its protection). Piracy FTW!

...at the Xbox 360. Microsoft sells it at a loss. The cost of the parts alone, without assembly, is higher than the street price (or "MSRP") of the console.

This smacks of parallel importing to me. After all, the parts are being sold for less than the original manufacturers' intended selling price. If it's illegal to sell Microsoft products at lower than Microsoft directs, then surely it must be illegal for Microsoft to sell the products it has purchased from others at prices lower than the original manufacturers intended.

And since Microsoft is a convicted monopolist, they should have already forfeited any protection against *any* form of competition in the eyes of the law.

I smell a bribe here.

Unfortunately, Microsoft is full of people who love to give it to others in said ass. Meanwhile, the consumers of the world (except, it seems, France) are too willing to let Microsoft give it to them.

Yep, agreed.

I'm not generally a fan of the French (who spend most of their time making damn sure the rest of the world knows what 'arrogant' means), but in this case I salute them for having the brass ones to stand up to the USM (United States of Microsoft).

@ Morely,

Microsoft will almost certainly have agreements with their suppliers, who will have okay'd the final selling price of the Xbox 360. In that agreement there will be a clause which says that the signing parties agree not to sue each other for parallel importing or similar.

Price fixing allegations, on the other hand, can't be dismissed by a simple "Our contract says it's ok". See Samsung, Hynix et al who found that out the hard way. Let the EU go after them for that.

The important detail they missed out is that a parallel import is from *outside the EU. This ruling doesn't protect companies like Apple from prosecution when they illegally block cross-border sales within the EU (try googling EU Itunes investigation).

As far as I can tell, 'free trade' is something of a misnomer, but then I suppose calling it 'The right of EU and US corporations to exploit dirt cheap labour without any form of reciprocity while shafting consumers up the tradesman's in the name of profit, and incidentally ensuring that the labour /remains/ dirt cheap by dint of said exploitation' is a bit of a mouthful.

Level playing field my hairy rear entrance, in this case the playing field is firmly tilted towards Microsoft's trousers.

Fucktards.

Agreed, but the real question is will anyone take them to task on this?

Any lawyers out there wanna earn some big bucks? Here's yer chance methinks.

Microsoft is a highly predatory company that will if allowed have you all in chains (or living in the street) there is no "fair" when dealing with them you must be willing to kick them in the teeth once in a while to keep them in their place they expect it if they kill their own market they will suffer too you don't do them any favors by being too soft on them they need rational laws to keep them from their own greed and killing the host that would be you.