Microsoft warned of more EU fines
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The European Commission warns that Microsoft could face further fines for failing to comply with anti-trust rulings.
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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, the European  Union regulator said on Monday.
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: Microsoft Corp. today said that small companies and their customers would suffer most if it is forced to remove its digital media software from Windows, while the European Union accused
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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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LUXEMBOURG  - Microsoft Corp. told a European Union court Thursday that it would suffer irreparable harm if forced to reveal more of its software code to rivals, while the EU said such information was "indispensable" to keep competitors alive.
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Software giant Microsoft MSFT.O has   filed an appeal against a 280.5 million euro ($356.4 million)   fine the European Commission imposed in July, holding it defied   a 2004 antitrust ruling.
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Microsoft's CEO in Europe said the company still hopes to settle with the European Commission over the sanctions imposed against it to correct its anticompetitive behavior.
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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., the world&#39;s largest software maker, may restart settlement talks with European Union regulators after the EU&#39;s second-highest court rules on whether penalties should be suspended.
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Microsoft asked a European Union judge Thursday to freeze a European Commission order forcing it to share technology with competitors, but a rival said the software giant used to provide such information freely.
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Microsoft MSFT.O raised the   possibility on Thursday that it might delay the introduction of   its new Vista Windows operating system in Europe, depending on   antitrust requirements of the European Commission.
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CANNES, FRANCE -- Microsoft Corp. still hopes to settle with the European Commission over the sanctions ordered against it to correct its anticompetitive behavior, even as its appeal of the case winds its way through the legal channels, a senior company executive said Monday.
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EU competition regulators said Monday they would launch two new antitrust probes against Microsoft, opening fresh fronts in their battle against the US software giant's dominant market power.
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The European Commission turned up the  pressure on Microsoft  on Thursday, warning the U.S.  software giant of new fines and accusing it of serial defiance  of an antitrust ruling made nearly three years ago.
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BRUSSELS -- Microsoft Corp. will be ready to comply with the European Commission's demands for changes to its Windows operating systems if a European court rejects its request for the measures to be suspended, a spokesman for the company said Monday.
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Microsoft Corp. told a European Union court Thursday that it would suffer irreparable harm if forced to reveal more of its software code to rivals, while the EU said such information was "indispensable" to keep competitors alive.
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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