Daum Communications, South Korea's largest Internet portal, said today it had filed a complaint against Microsoft Corp over the US software giant's planned release of its new operating system Windows XP.
"We filed a complaint against Microsoft with the Korea Fair Trade Commission this morning," said a spokeswoman for Daum.
In the complaint, Daum said Microsoft's bundling of a variety of application software - including instant messaging, Internet phone service and digital pictures - to Windows XP constitutes an unfair business practice.
Windows XP, the latest version of Microsoft's flagship product, is scheduled for widespread retail release on October 25th.
Mr Kwon Chan, a spokesman for Microsoft Korea, said his company had no official comment on the issue.
"We need to go through the complaint in detail before issuing any official comment," he said.
"But if the Fair Trade Commission wants to make inquiries to us about it, we are willing to respond to it."
The Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said it would launch an official investigation into the case soon.
"We are not sure how long the investigation would take," said an official at the FTC's competition promotion bureau. "If an illegal act is found, we can issue a corrective order to Microsoft Korea."
Daum, which controls 20 per cent of Korea's instant messaging market, said: "Microsoft, which accounts for more than 90 per cent of Korea's operating system market, is using its monopolistic position to force local PC makers to buy Windows XP and other software features."
Daum said it also planned to seek a court injunction against the sale of Windows XP in Korea as soon as it finished a legal review of Microsoft's release plan.