EU warns Microsoft of possible further fines
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The European Commission warned  Microsoft on Thursday it faced further fines in its antitrust  case for seeking unreasonable prices from software makers for  interoperability information.
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A European Court judge pressed  Microsoft on Thursday to explain why it would suffer  irreparable harm if it followed EU orders to share technology  with competitors.
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Computer giant Microsoft has lost its legal appeal to delay a fine and anti-competitive penalties set by the European Commission, Reuters reports.
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The European Commission plans to raise  the ceiling of future fines on Microsoft  to 3 million  euros (&#36;3.8 million) a day if the company continues to defy an  antitrust decision, a diplomatic source said on Monday.
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You will comply The European Commission has warned Microsoft it could face further penalties over what it calls "unreasonable pricing" of interoperability information.â¦
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The European Commission will fine  Microsoft  between 200 million (&#36;255 million) and 300  million euros on Wednesday to punish it for failing to carry  out antitrust sanctions, sources familiar with the situation  said on Tuesday.
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Microsoft Corp. , the world's largest software maker, said it may delay the release of its next version of the Windows operating system in Europe if regulators demand changes to it .
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Like it said it would... Microsoft confirmed today that it will appeal the second part of the fine imposed on it by the European Competition Commission.â¦
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The European Union Court of First Instance has upheld the US$665.4 million fine on Microsoft imposed by the executive European Commission in March and will now force the company to offer European computer makers a version of the Windows operating system
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LUXEMBOURG, Sept. 30 -- European regulators testified here Thursday that before settlement talks with Microsoft Corp. broke down last spring, the company had agreed to  antitrust sanctions that the software giant now claims would cause irreparable harm to its business and is fighting to stave off.
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COMMENTARY: The European Union (UN)&#39;s European Commission (EC) has opened yet another probe into Microsoft&#39;s business practices.
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The European Commission warned Microsoft  on Thursday it faced further fines in its long-running antitrust battle with Brussels, this time for seeking unreasonable prices from software makers for vital data.
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Microsoft Corp  has submitted  documents required by the European Commission in an effort to  avoid further fines for breaching an antitrust ruling, a  spokeswoman for the European Union regulator said on Monday.
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Microsoft will be ready to comply with European Commission demands for changes to its Windows operating systems if a European court does not suspend the antitrust remedy, a company spokesman said today.
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BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Union escalated its trans-Atlantic fight with Microsoft Corp. yesterday , threatening huge new fines against the software maker over claims it is asking rivals to pay too much for information that would help their servers work with Windows.
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(InfoWorld) - Four European Parliament members warned the European Commission that its actions toward Microsoft could endanger the competitiveness of European businesses by delaying the release of Vista, Microsoft's next operating system. In a strongly worded letter submitted Thursday to Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, the legislators said Microsoft regards the E.U.'s regulatory actions as a "risk factor." Microsoft used the terminology in its annual report filed Aug. 25 with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). "This effectively means that the Commission's actions are endangering the ability of European business to compete globally," the legislators wrote. The letter is signed by U.K. representatives Chris Heaton-Harris, Sharon Bowles and Peter Skinner, plus Michal Kaminski of Poland. Microsoft wrote in the SEC filing that its ongoing appeal of European Commission's March 2004 antitrust decision means there's uncertainty over the legal principles regarding product design in the European market. "These uncertainties could ... delay release dates for Windows or other products," the SEC filing read. Microsoft has provided copies of Vista to the Commission along with technical information, said spokesman Tom Brookes. The Commission, he said, has raised concerns regarding complaints by competitors. In March, the Commission sent a letter to Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer, saying it was concerned about certain functions in Vista and how compatible the OS would be with products from other software companies. European Commission representatives were not immediately available for comment regarding Thursday's letter. Brookes said Microsoft was unaware of the letter until this morning. Two of the legislators said their letter is based on information contained in the company's SEC filing. Heaton-Harris referred questions to Microsoft, regarding why the company thought the E.U. might cause a delay Vista's shipping date. Microsoft has said Vista will be ready for corporate customers in November and consumers in January. Bowles said she has participated in informal sessions where Commission members have acknowledged they are watching Microsoft's development of Vista closely. She said she had no specific information on what the Commission is currently doing, as few details are publicly released. However, the Commission's actions have prompted concern among small to medium-size businesses in Europe, worried that the E.U. could potentially delay Vista's release, putting them at a competitive disadvantage with the rest of the world, Bowles said. "That climate of uncertainty caused through competition policy and actions already taken ... are meaning that Europe is being deprived," Bowles said. Europe is in the middle of a 10-year plan, called the Lisbon Agenda, to increase the continent's competitiveness in technology. The legislators wrote that they are concerned the Commission's actions toward Microsoft are undermining Europe's moves to become a knowledge-driven economy. Microsoft and the Commission have locked horns over how the company is complying with the March 2004 antitrust decision. TheÂ Commission fined MicrosoftÂ â¬280.5 million ($357 million at the time) in July for failing to provide technical documentation for certain protocols used by its server products. The Commission required disclosure of the protocols to allow competitors to develop compatible products.Â Microsoft is appealing. Microsoft is also appealing the entire March 2004 decision, in which it was fined â¬497 million ($613 million at the time), before the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.
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The European Commission (EC), which fined Microsoft a record 497 million euros (US$625.50 million) this year for abusing its dominant position, on Monday vowed to continue pursuing the US software group through the courts for anti-competitive behavior.