# Microsoft to offer free software to education and governments

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2003/05/15/microsoft-offer-free-software-education-and-governments/
- Published: 2003-05-15T23:00:00+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

Microsoft plans to offer free and discounted software to governments and educational
institutions, although critics have suggested this might contravene European antitrust
law.
By offering free and discounted software to particular sectors Microsoft could
be viewed as abusing its near monopoly status, according to FT.com. “European law
prohibits companies with monopolies using discounts that discriminate between customers
and exclude competitors from the market”, reports the financial newspaper.

The donations are presumably part of Microsoft’s efforts to ensure it does not lose
out to its rival free operating system Linux.

Microsoft on the other hand are adamant that the donations programme is legal.

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Read “Microsoft to offer free software” by Paul Abrahams and Daniel Dombey at FT.
com.

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