Forced retailer to sell at a particular
price
The German government has fined Microsoft €9 million for illegally
pressing a retailer to sell its Office productivity software for a certain
price.
Microsoft employees and those of a national retailer met twice and agreed
on the resale price of "Office Home and Student 2007." An advertising campaign
for the software then launched in October.
Under German law suppliers and
retailers are allowed to discussed pricing strategies within some
limits.However, they are not allowed to coordinate the pricing activities of the
retailer and thus retailer and supplier agree on future actions of the
retailer.
The government said that in the present case, this boundary has
been crossed. Microsoft has accepted the fine although Microsoft has not said
anything yet.
