EC hits Microsoft with €280m fine

The computing giant has been handed a substantial fine for failing to comply with an EC antitrust ruling, but still protests its innocence

The European Commission has fined Microsoft ?����280.5m for failing to comply with the 2004 antitrust ruling against it.In an announcement on Wednesday morning, the EC said it would fine Microsoft ?����1.5m a day, backdated to 16 December, 2005.

“The fine is at a substantial level to induce Microsoft to comply. They have to behave,” said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes at a press conference.

She added that this is the first time the EC has had to fine a company for failure to comply with an antitrust decision.

The Commission had previously said it would fine Microsoft up to €2m a day if it judged it had not satisfied the terms of the antitrust ruling. In 2004, the Commission had ruled that Microsoft shut out rivals by withholding information that would help them make server software as compatible as Microsoft’s own with its ubiquitous Windows operating system.

It demanded that Microsoft provide that information, and has now judged that the company has still not done so.

Kroes also said that the fine would be raised to €3m per day from 19 July if Microsoft continued to drag its feet.

Full story: ZDNet UK

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