IRELAND SHARES USG CONCERNS ON MICROSOFT

C O N F I D E N T I A L DUBLIN 000335 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/31/2015 TAGS: ETRD KIPR EUN EI SUBJECT: IRELAND SHARES USG CONCERNS ON MICROSOFT REF: A. STATE 46956 ¶B. YOUNG-SOILA E-MAIL OF 3/13/06 Classified By: Political-Economic Counselor Mary E. Daly; Reasons 1.4 ( B) and (D). (C) Ireland shares USG concerns about the Commission's treatment of Microsoft (which has its European operations center and large-scale R&D programs in Ireland),according to Ronald Long, Assistant Secretary General in the Department of Enterprise, Trade, and Employment (DETE),with whom Post discussed reftel demarche on March 28 and 29. Long, who has responsibility for competition issues in DETE and claims to have written the 1991 EU Copyright Directive for Computer Programs, noted that DETE Minister Micheal Martin had recently written to EU Internal Market Commissioner (and former Irish Finance Minister) Charlie McCreevy to alert the Commission to the GOI's concerns. Long elaborated that the GOI saw the Commission as less than transparent in its evaluation of the interoperability information supplied by Microsoft in compliance with the Commission's antitrust ruling. The GOI, he added, worried that the Commission's dealings with Microsoft were making the ground rules for competition cases unclear, a trend that should concern any company operating in Europe. He asked to stay in touch with Post as the Microsoft case proceeded. KENNY