Firefox Architect Debunks Mozilla Foundation’s Claims About Browser Bundling and Competition

by on February 10, 2009 · 11 comments

Mozilla Foundation chairperson Mitchell Baker believes that Microsoft’s bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows represents an “ongoing threat to competition and innovation on the Internet.” But as Adam explains in an earlier post, and Ryan Paul argues over at ArsTechnica, Baker’s portrayal of the browser marketplace is way off base.

Perhaps the most interesting rebuttal to the Mozilla Foundation’s take on bundling IE with Windows comes from a surprising source: Mike Connor,  Firefox’s chief software architect. Here’s what he had to say a couple days ago in an interview with PC Pro:

Connor said, referring to Firefox’s ever improving market share, which now stands at just over 20% worldwide. “It’s asserting that bundling leads to market share. I don’t know how you can make the claim with a straight face,” he said. “As people become aware there’s an alternative, you don’t end up in that [monopoly] situation. You have to be perceptibly better [than Internet Explorer],” Connor added.

Right on. It’s common knowledge that there are lots of alternatives to Internet Explorer out there. Firefox is a household name at this point, and anybody dissatisfied with IE can easily download FF–or any other competing browser.

One suggested remedy for Microsoft’s allegedly illegal bundling is to mandate that Windows come with multiple browsers pre-installed, not just IE. But Connor doesn’t think this is such a good idea:

Firefox architect Mike Connor said Mozilla is still considering its position in light of the ruling, but that he wouldn’t be in favour of Firefox being bundled with Windows. “My personal view is that it’s not the right outcome,” he said. “The choice [when installing Windows] would be weird. There’s no good UI [user interface] for that.”

In a separate interview, Connor also expresses concern that the way things are going, it may soon be Firefox–not IE–that is branded the monopolist in the browser marketplace:

Connor admits the prospect of achieving monopoly status – defined as two thirds of the market in the US – has been a topic of discussion at Mozilla HQ. “We are kind of worried about the monopoly thing,” Connor admitted in an exclusive interview with PC Pro. “We don’t want to kill everybody else.”

SHARE: 11 comments

Ryan Radia / Ryan is associate director of technology studies at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, where his work focuses on adapting law and policy to the unique challenges of the information age. His research areas include privacy, IP telecommunications, competition policy, and media regulation.

  • http://www.cordblomquist.com cordblomquist

    Someone needs to protect Mitchell Baker from unfair competition on statements to media–especially from people in his own organization!

    This illustrates how antitrust has become a self-serving tool of business, or in Mozilla's case, Big Non-Profit. It's never a legitimate case of monopoly or collusion, it's just political maneuvering born out of naked self interest.

  • http://www.cordblomquist.com cordblomquist

    Someone needs to protect Mitchell Baker from unfair competition on statements to media–especially from people in her own organization!

    This illustrates how antitrust has become a self-serving tool of business, or in Mozilla's case, Big Non-Profit. It's never a legitimate case of monopoly or collusion, it's just political maneuvering born out of naked self interest.

  • MikeRT
  • Ryan Radia

    I got the link from Slashdot, I swear!

  • MikeRT

    Suuurrrrrrrre you did… Just kidding.

  • dm

    This Firefox developer needs to get out more. And he's hardly the person to ask, “Is it easy to install Firefox?”

    Firefox is really only easy to download if you have a fast internet connection. Even living in an urban area, I live too far from a central office for decent DSL service, and my cable provider puts too many restrictions on use (and plays too many non-neutral games) for me to want to get cable installed just for the increment in bandwidth. I'd think twice about downloading Firefox across my internet connection (it's true that I would still do it — leaving it to load over night).

    If I lived in a more rural area, though, forget it. Were my computer mostly just an appliance, forget it.

    Bundling makes a huge difference — Internet Explorer wouldn't ever have had 90% penetration, otherwise.

    An additional explanation for Firefox's increase in market share is the growth of the non-Windows market. Firefox is a natural choice on Linux, after all, and with Macs growing to be a significant part of the installed base, it would be interesting to see how Firefox fares against the bundled Safari.

  • http://srynas.blogspot.com/ Steve R.

    There is bundling and there is bundling. My take on this is that Microsoft has lost touch with what an operating system is. At its simplest, the operating system is the minimum that is necessary to operate your computer. Add-ons such as Internet Explorer, are NOT part of the operating system, I don't have a problem with Internet Explorer being “bundled”, provided that it is a discrete component that can be added and removed by the user-at-will.

    Since we are still “free” to choose our browser, “Baker’s portrayal of the browser marketplace is way off base.”

  • http://www.schnappi-online.de/ Tom

    I too

  • Pingback: TRUTH ON THE MARKET » “We’re Kinda Worried About the Monopoly Thing”

  • uggworld

    Today abercrombie and fitch runs hundreds of retail stores and is doing a very brisk business indeed. hollister is very popular and is often associated with campus sports and lesiure activities. The abercrombie outlet male model sets a new standard in modeling. Male college students are photographed shirtless or sometimes completely nude, frolicking on a beach to help sell hollister clothing. The Abercrombie hoodies and tees sell at a very fast pace, especially in college towns and universities all across the United States. You’d be hard pressed to step onto any college campus across America and not spot dozens of Ruehl No.925 in a very short period of time.

  • uggworld

    Today abercrombie and fitch runs hundreds of retail stores and is doing a very brisk business indeed. hollister is very popular and is often associated with campus sports and lesiure activities. The abercrombie outlet male model sets a new standard in modeling. Male college students are photographed shirtless or sometimes completely nude, frolicking on a beach to help sell hollister clothing. The Abercrombie hoodies and tees sell at a very fast pace, especially in college towns and universities all across the United States. You’d be hard pressed to step onto any college campus across America and not spot dozens of Ruehl No.925 in a very short period of time.

Previous post:

Next post: