Microsoft Takes $1.35 Billion Hit From EU
European Union anti-trust regulators hit Microsoft for $1.35 billion fine today, claiming the company violated its 2004 anti-trust agreement regarding the market dominance of Windows.
“The high penalty payment can only be understood as a reaction to a behavior by Microsoft, which the commission interpreted to be a blatant circumvention of the rules it imposed, and as a strong signal that — under such conditions — the commission will go close to the limits in order to provide for effective deterrence,” said Heike Schweitzer, of the European University Institute in Florence.
The European Commission is getting a reputation as the most activist regulator in the world. This will make the total amount in fines paid by Microsoft to the EU $2.3 billion.
Neelie Kroes, the European competition commissioner, in announcing the fine, said, “Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of E.U. competition policy that the commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision.” Kroes was visibly upset at Microsoft and did little to hide her derision during the statement.
Microsoft believes they have played by the rules, but did not yet announce their next course of action. Google is still awaiting a decision by the commission regarding their aquisition of DoubleClick.
The commission isn’t done with Microsoft yet, either. They are still to determine if the bundling of Internet Explorer violates anti-trust rules.
Microsoft agreed to provide interoperability information with other software makers, but at significantly higher royalty prices than the commission found appropriate. It was this massive difference that spurred on the huge EU fine.
Thanks to Stephen Castle of the New York Times for the story
Technorati Tags: european commission, european union, microsoft, microsoft windows, neelie kroes
