Corporate & Securities Law

EU Fines Microsoft ? 899 milllion

By Matthew S. Wild

February 27, 2008.   Microsoft became the first company that the EU Competition Commission has fined (in its 50 year history) for non-compliance with an antitrust decree. The decree was based on the determination that Microsoft abused its dominant position.  To remedy the violation, the decree required Microsoft to disclose interoperability information to developers of work group server operating servers (on reasonable terms) which would allow them to compete.  The EU concluded that royalty rates which Microsoft imposed were unreasonable and therefore violated the antitrust decree.  Below is a link to the proceedings against Microsoft in the EU.  http://www.ec.europa.eu/comm/competition/antitrust/cases/microsoft/index.html 

Full post as published by Antitrust Commentary on February 27, 2008 (boomark / email).