The Japanese government has ended its year-long investigation of Microsoft Corp’s alleged anti-competitive business practices and while it said it would take no further action against the company, it did issue Redmond with a warning about some of its contracts with computer manufacturers. The Japan Fair Trade Commission said Microsoft unfairly restricted access to the software market by bundling word processor and spreadsheet applications with new PCs, a practice it has since stopped. Microsoft claimed victory because the FTC said it would take no further action and, more importantly considering what is happening in Washington, the Japanese government said Microsoft was not competing unfairly in the browser market.
