Microsoft Corp’s battle with the US Department of Justice has drawn the attention of Japan’s Fair Trade Commission which is investing whether the software giant has violated Japan’s anti- monopoly laws. Redmond’s high-stakes war of words with the US Department of Justice may end up backfiring if trade ministries in other countries put Microsoft’s business practices under the magnifying glass. Commission officials in Japan have searched Microsoft’s offices in a probe which is said to focus on the integration of Windows 95 and Internet Explorer. The investigators are also said to be looking into a word processor and spreadsheet package Microsoft said it offered to Japanese PC makers to compete with a similar package sold by Japanese software house Just System. Kyodo News reports that like the US DoJ’s investigation, Japanese officials are examining whether Microsoft abused its Windows operating system monopoly by requiring computer makers to install the software company’s internet browser on new machines. Microsoft is suspected of telling Japanese computer makers not to put software of competing companies in computers if the machines already contain equivalent Microsoft software, such as Word or Excel, Kyodo reported.
