Opera Software

From Free net encyclopedia

Opera Software is a Norwegian corporation, primarily known for its Opera suite of internet applications.

Founded on August 30, 1995, by Jon Stephenson von Tetzchner and Geir Ivarsøy,Template:Fact it is also involved in promoting web standards through participation in the W3C. The full name of the company is "Opera Software ASA", where ASA stands for Allmennaksjeselskap, a type of corporation in Norway.

Opera Software had an IPO in February 2004, and was listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange March 11 2004.Template:Fact

On May 18, 2004, Opera Software settled a lawsuit:

Opera Software ASA has settled legal claims with an international corporation resulting in payment to Opera of net USD 12.75 million. The other party is not a customer of Opera and the settlement does not negatively impact future revenues. The entire amout will be booked in Q2.

Details are confidential pursuant to the settlement agreement.

It is widely theorized that the 'international corporation' named above is Microsoft,<ref>Microsoft behind $12 million payment to Opera, URL access on 20 April, 2006.</ref> who it was previously reported had blocked Opera users from correctly viewing MSN.com. <ref>MSN lockout stirs antitrust rumblings, URL accessed on 20 April, 2006.</ref>

The introduction in August 2005 of "Opera Mini", <ref>Have WAP but want WEB? Introducing Opera Mini™ for mobile phones, URL accessed on 20 April, 2006</ref> a Java ME based web browser for mobile phones marketed not to end users but to mobile network operators, possibly marks a new direction towards directly revenue generating business, making the company less dependent on give-away and advertising-based Internet software.

On September 20 2005, Opera announced that it would remove the advertising from its browser and remain free of charge. Although Opera was free to download and use, it displayed an advertising banner unless the user purchased a license. The move was made in the hope that it would prompt more users to switch to the Opera browser.Template:Fact

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