China's raid on Microsoft offices is part of a new anti-monopoly probe

The government of China has officially announced it has begun an anti-monopoly probe of Microsoft in its country, one day after it raided the company's offices in four Chinese cities.

China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce claims that Microsoft has not fully disclosed information about the company's Windows operating system and its Office suite of software products. China stated that Microsoft may be in violation of the country's anti-monopoly law due to issues with "compatibility, bundling and document authentication." However. the specifics of those alleged violations are not currently known.

The government raided Microsoft offices in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Chengdu on Monday and obtained documents, e-mails and other content from the company's computers and servers as part of its investigation. In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson said it was "happy to answer the government's questions."

What do you think the Chinese government is trying to do with this anti-monopoly probe?

Source: Reuters

John Callaham