jwolthuis - 11:18 pm on Dec 16, 2009 (gmt 0)

Microsoft, for years, has been requiring (not asking) that its customers (the PC manufacturers, not Microsoft itself) NOT offer (not "offer") competitive products. Which is illegal in most of the civilized world, and probably even in France. What the EU is trying to deal with now, is some kind of balance, so future consumers will not be harmed by Microsoft's continuing illegally-imposed restrictions. The concern (inarguably valid, based in previous Microsoft behavior) was that Microsoft would find some new way of forcing the same restriction. The only solution was to make it illegal to effectively obtain that restriction by any means whatsoever--in other words, to require that every computer shipped with Microsoft software NOT be restricted in browser choice.

Replace "Microsoft" with "Apple" in these four paragraphs, and note the irony.