Bundling Concerns.

BRAZIL'S S MINISTRY OF JUSTICE IS ACCUSING MICROSOFT OF violating anti-trust laws in its drive to obtain market leadership.

The ministry's Secretary of Economic Rights (SDE) says the U.S.-based company bundled its financial management software Money with its Office Suite of business applications. Paulo de Tarso Ramos Ribeiro, the secretary of the SDE, likened the practice to the bundling of Internet Explorer with Microsoft Windows--the tactic that triggered investigations by the U.S. government.

The ministry recommends banning Microsoft from government contracts for five years and imposing a one-time fine of up to 30% of annual sales. The final decision lies with the government anti-trust authority now studying the case.

With sales of nearly US$440 million dollars, Brazil has become the eighth largest market for Microsoft. The global giant's market share of software in the country ranges from 54% for databases to 96% for word processors, according to a study by Brazil's Fundacao Getulio Vargas.

Microsoft insists it did nothing more than a four-month product promotion in 1998. "The case is totally unfounded," says Mauro Muratorio, director of corporate strategy for Microsoft in Latin America, adding that the company has no plans to alter its marketing strategies.

"We will continue normally within legal boundaries. We only change if Microsoft is no longer in line with what its customers want," says Muratorio. "We are an aggressive, not a timid, company."