Hungarian state competition authority GVH raided the offices of Microsoft Hungary unannounced, according to a statement posted on the authority’s website. The raid was carried out on July 19 as part of a probe into Microsoft Hungary’s relationships with software distributors. Investigators are suspicious that Microsoft offered special conditions and incentives, known as “loyalty discounts," to prevent distributors from selling competing products.
“Microsoft can confirm that its offices in Hungary were visited by the Hungarian Competition Authority on [sic] Thursday 19 July. We are cooperating fully with the Hungarian Competition Authority,” said Microsoft Hungary spokeman Guy Esnouf in a statement e-mailed to the Budapest Business Journal.
Local media reports indicate that the visit was prompted by a complaint from the Open SKM Agency, a rival to Microsoft Hungary and an affiliate of Sun Microsystems. According to the complaint, Hungarian vendors were refusing to stock Sun’s competing StarOffice software suite, a product that Open SKM Agency distributes.
“During the raid, the GVH gathered evidence supporting these suspicions,” said GVH, but noted that the investigation does not mean that Microsoft had broken any laws.
Attempting to insure that vendors only stock Microsoft products by means of loyalty discounts is a violation of European Union trade rules, says GVH.
GVH has up to 180 days to investigate the allegations before it has to seek an extension.