Antivirus vendor Kaspersky has filed an antitrust complaint with the European Commission against Microsoft. The Russian company argues that Microsoft abuses its dominant position on the market for operating systems, to favor its own Windows Defender.
Kaspersky's CEO writes on the company's blog, "we see clearly – and are ready to prove – that Microsoft uses its dominant position in the computer operating system (OS) market to fiercely promote its own – inferior – security software (Windows Defender) at the expense of users’ previously self-chosen security solution. Such promotion is conducted using questionable methods, and we want to bring these methods to the attention of the anti-competition authorities."
Kaspersky argues that it's impossible to disable Microsoft Defender in Windows 10 and that alternative software is counteracted.
Not only the European Commission but also the German Federal Cartel Office should investigate Kaspersky's complaints. Previously the company also filed a complaint with the Russian anti monopoly authorities.
"We want Microsoft to stop misleading and misinforming our – and not only our – users. We want to see all security solutions being able to work on the Windows platform on a level playing field. And we want to see users being able to decide for themselves what they want and consider important to them," Kaspersky concludes.
Update:
A Microsoft spokesperson has responded to the complaint and said, "Microsoft's primary objective is to keep customers protected and we are confident that the security features of Windows 10 comply with competition laws. We're always interested in feedback from other companies and we engage deeply with antimalware vendors and have taken a number of steps to address their feedback. We reached out directly to Kaspersky a number of months ago offering to meet directly at an executive level to better understand their concerns, but that meeting has not yet taken place."
