M$ Monitor: Browser Choice Declines

Subject: M$ Monitor: Browser Choice Declines
Audrie Krause (audrie@netaction.org)
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 22:52:05 -0700 (PDT)

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Date: Mon, 6 Jul 1998 22:52:05 -0700 (PDT)
Message-Id: <2.2.16.19980706225441.50f74c76@pop.igc.org>
To: roundtable@cni.org
From: Audrie Krause <audrie@netaction.org>
Subject: M$ Monitor: Browser Choice Declines

The Micro$oft Monitor
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Published by NetAction Issue No. 32 July 7, 1998
Repost where appropriate. Copyright and subscription info at end of message.
* * * * * * *
In This Issue:
Microsoft Expands Grip on Browser Market
Update: CETI dead
About the Micro$oft Monitor
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Microsoft Expands Grip on Browser Market

A year ago, NetAction conducted a survey of the largest Internet Service
Providers (ISPs) and found that Microsoft was using agreements by ISPs
to distribute its Internet browser to rapidly expand its market share.
Now a new survey shows that, despite the Department of Justice's
antitrust lawsuit, the situation has gotten worse.

NetAction's new report on consumer choice in web browsers documents
Microsoft's increasing grip on the ISP market. The survey report is on
the web at: <http://www.netaction.org/msoft/browsers2.html>.

Key findings of the survey include:

** Almost none of the largest ISPs give consumers the option to order
an alternative to Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and many will
not give technical support to consumers who install Netscape Navigator
or another alternative browser on their computer.

** The four largest retail Internet Service Providers, with a combined
subscriber base of over 20 million customers, distribute only Internet
Explorer to their customers.

** A number of services that offered Netscape Navigator as an
alternative a year ago now or will soon offer only Internet Explorer.

** The bundling of Explorer with Windows 98 is already having the
effect of encouraging ISPs to support only Microsoft.

In the year since NetAction's first survey of ISPs, there has been an
increasing scrutiny of Microsoft's predatory business practices and,
most recently, antitrust lawsuits from both the Department of Justice
and the States Attorneys General. During 1997, as Microsoft forged
exclusive agreements with various ISPs and computer resellers, Internet
Explorer's share rose to 39 percent from just 21 percent. While the
number of computers with Netscape installed grew by only 33 percent
during 1997, the number using Explorer nearly tripled.

Even as pressure forced Microsoft to end some of those exclusionary
deals in early 1998, Microsoft's plans to incorporate its browser into
Windows 98 has put pressure on ISPs to distribute Explorer over rivals
like Netscape. IBM, which until now distributed Netscape to its
customers, has announced that it will begin distributing only Microsoft
browser software beginning in September 1998, because of Windows98.

While Microsoft defenders note that consumers can download alternative
browsers off the Internet, this is mostly a theoretical choice for
computer novices, who tend to stick with the software provided by their
ISP. A survey of 7,000 computer users released earlier this year by the
Georgia Institute of Technology found users of the Internet tend to
stick with the first browser they become familiar with. Forty-five
percent of those surveyed who had begun using the Internet in the last
year said the primary reason they used a particular browser was because
it came bundled with their software, while 81 percent of novices said
they had not switched browsers in the past year. Given the lack of ISP
support for alternative browsers, and justified fears that some Windows
functions will not work with non-Microsoft browsers, it is even more
unlikely that computer users will stray too often from the Internet
software initially provided by their ISPs. This makes the increasing
dominance of Microsoft among ISPs all the more disturbing.

NetAction strongly supports the investigations by the Justice Department
and the States Attorneys General, and urges investigators to expand
their efforts to fully rein in Microsoft's monopoly power.

(See our recommendations on dealing with Microsoft at,
<http://www.netaction.org/msoft/world/recommend.html>).

Beyond that, we urge consumers to take the following actions to support
consumer choice in Internet browsers:

** If your ISP doesn't offer a choice of Web browsers, ask that
customers be offered a choice.

** If your ISP is not responsive to requests to offer a choice of
browsers, switch to an ISP that does offer a choice.

** Contact the Justice Department at antitrust@usdoj.gov and indicate
your support for their investigation into Microsoft's anti-competitive
practices in the Web browser market.

** Write or phone your representatives in Congress and tell them you
support a Justice Department investigation of Microsoft.

** Write a letter about this issue to your local newspaper.

** Share this report with friends and colleagues by forwarding the URL
in an E-mail message.

** Provide a link to this report from your Web page.

(This article was written by Nathan Newman, NetAction Project Director.
Contact Nathan at <nathan@netaction.org> or <mailto:nathan@netaction.org>
with comments or questions.)
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Update: CETI dead

A quick update on the California Education Technology Initiative (CETI).
Last week, the California State University system announced the collapse
of negotiations to create a for-profit company with industry partners
to manage technology resources for students. This followed a large
mobilization of students, staff and faculty against the initiative.
The mobilization was supported by NetAction.

Condemning the monopoly control of technology embodied in CETI,
NetAction and other critics had focused on the danger that CETI partners
Microsoft and GTE would gain unfair advantages in the broader
marketplace if given exclusive control of the technology students would
be trained in on campuses across the state. When pressure forced the
university system to drop a requirement for a complete monopoly for
Microsoft software in the deal, Microsoft dropped out of negotiations in
April. Last week, GTE decided that without the monopoly profits
promised in the original CETI proposal, they had little interest anymore
and pulled out of negotiations themselves.

All those who wrote and called to protest against the CETI deal can
cheer that California has avoided a $3 billion mistake that would have
hurt students, faculty and broader technology innovation in society.

About The Micro$oft Monitor

The Micro$oft Monitor is a free electronic newsletter, published as part
of the Consumer Choice Campaign <http://www.netaction.org/msoft/ccc.html>.
NetAction is a national, non-profit organization dedicated to educating
the public, policy makers, and the media about technology-based social
and political issues, and to teaching activists how to use the Internet
for organizing, outreach, and advocacy.

To subscribe to The Micro$oft Monitor, write to: <majordomo@netaction.org>.
The body of the message should state: <subscribe monitor>. To unsubscribe
at any time, send a message to: <majordomo@netaction.org>. The body of the
message should state: <unsubscribe monitor>

NetAction is seeking sponsors to provide financial support for the
continued publication of the Micro$oft Monitor. Sponsors will be
acknowledged in the newsletter and on NetAction's Web site. NetAction
is supported by individual contributions, membership dues and grants.

For more information about contributing to NetAction, or sponsoring the
Micro$oft Monitor, contact Audrie Krause by phone: (415) 775-8674, by
E-mail: <mailto:audrie@netaction.org>, visit the NetAction Web site at:
<http://www.netaction.org>, or write to:
NetAction * 601 Van Ness Ave., No. 631 * San Francisco, CA 94102

To learn more about how activists can use the Internet for grassroots
organizing, outreach, and advocacy, subscribe to NetAction Notes, a free
electronic newsletter published twice a month.

To subscribe to NetAction Notes, send a message to: <majordomo@netaction.org>
The body of the message should state: <subscribe netaction>. To unsubscribe
at any time, send a message to: <majordomo@netaction.org>. The body of the
message should state: <unsubscribe netaction>.
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Copyright 1998 by NetAction/The Tides Center. All rights reserved.
Material may be reposted or reproduced for non-commercial use provided
NetAction is cited as the source. NetAction is a project of The Tides
Center, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

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