Redmond, Washington — A Los Angeles woman has slammed a class-action lawsuit against Microsoft Corp., the world’s largest software maker, over claims that the software maker is allegedly violating anti-competitive behavior over a $59.25 charge for downgrading her Windows Vista PC to XP.
For Microsoft’s legal department, as Yogi Berra once observed, it must seem “like déjà vu all over again.”
Emma Alvarado, a resident of Los Angeles County, California, in a suit filed Feb. 11 in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle, asking that Microsoft refund the fee she paid for downgrading a Lenovo PC with the Windows Vista Business OS preinstalled to Windows XP Professional.
Emma Alvarado stated in court papers that she was forced to pay $59.25 to downgrade a Vista-based Lenovo system she purchased on June 20, 2008, according to the suit. Alvarado claims Microsoft is able to impose such fees because of a lack of competition in the PC market.
“Since the introduction of Vista, Microsoft has effectively eliminated competition in the operating system PC market and created a monopoly position for itself in that market,” Alvarado claims in papers filed this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
“Microsoft has played its power to compel OEMs, Internet access providers, and others into agreeing to restrictive and anti-competitive licensing terms for its Windows XP operating system in order to stifle competition in the market,” according to Alvarado’s complaint.
The suit goes on to accuse “Microsoft did so in order to maintain, protect, and extend its market power in operating systems software into the next generation of personal computing, to lessen competition, and to enhance its monopoly position,” Alvarado claims.
Microsoft is trying to salvage Vista, which requires heavy configuration and, as well as its incompatibility with older applications, which many businesses and consumers panned after it went on sale in 2007.
“As a result, many consumers would prefer to purchase a new computer preinstalled with the Windows XP operating system or at least not preinstalled with the Vista operating system,” according to the filing.
With the economy declining, companies are avoiding new projects and technology purchases. Thus, most vendors offer Vista-to-XP downgrades, but at a price.
This action violates Washington state’s Unfair Business Practices Act and the Consumer Protection Act, according to the suit.
Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster said the company has not been served with the lawsuit, so it would be premature to comment about it.
However, when it announced Vista to consumers on Jan. 30, 2007, it offered people the option to downgrade to XP if they were not satisfied with the new OS. Initially, Microsoft said it plans to halt access to XP for system builders and OEMs beginning June 30, 2008, but since relented. It then extended that availability several times. Microsoft now plans to end access to XP as of July 31, 2009, with the exception of its use in netbooks.
“These extensions were likely due to the tremendous profits that Microsoft has reaped from its [downgrade] option,” Alvarado’s suit alleges. “To date, nearly one in three consumers purchasing a new computer has paid to downgrade the operating system from Vista to Windows XP.”
Alvarado is seeking unspecified damages and wants the court to make her case a class action. Alvarado also is inviting others who have paid fees to downgrade to XP to join the suit and is requesting refunds for them as well. Microsoft has yet to file a formal response to the allegations.
The case is Alvarado v. Microsoft, 09-189, U.S. District Court, Western District of Washington (Seattle).