EU
fines Microsoft 280 million euros in antitrust standoff[1]
by Leigh Thomas Wed Jul 12, 1:10 PM ET
BRUSSELS (AFP) - The
European Commission has slapped[2]
Microsoft with a new fine[3]
of 280.5 million euros for failing to fully respect a 2004 antitrust ruling,
but the software giant vowed[4]
to appeal[5].
Raising the pressure on Microsoft, the European Union competition watchdog[6]
also threatened additional fines of three million euros (3.82 million dollars)
a day from the end of the month if the company continued to defy[7]
the ruling[8].
EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Wednesday that more than two years
since the decision was handed down she now had "no alternative" than to
impose new fines, on top of a nearly
half-billion-euro penalty in the original ruling.
"I sincerely regret that the company has not put an end to its illegal conduct,"
Kroes told a news conference.
"The European Commission cannot allow such illegal conduct to continue indefinitely,"
she said.
"No company is above the law, each and every company, large or small, operating
in the European Union must obey EU law, including competition law for the
benefit of all companies and consumers."
Even while Kroes was still presenting the fine to the press, Microsoft shot
back with plans to appeal in court.
Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith said that "we do not believe any fine,
let alone a fine of this magnitude, is appropriate given the lack of clarity in
the Commission's original decision and our good-faith efforts over the past two
years.
"We will ask the European courts to determine whether our compliance efforts
have been sufficient and whether the commission's unprecedented fine is
justified," he added.
Microsoft already challenged the 2004 ruling in the EU's second-highest court
in April, but the judges are not expected to hand down a decision before the
end of the year at the earliest.
A group of Microsoft's rivals -- including technology giants like Adobe, IBM, Oracle and Nokia
-- welcomed the new fines and urged the commission not to give up.
Their legal counsel Thomas Vinje said: "No competition authority can or should
tolerate such a direct challenge to its authority."
"Microsoft continues to profit in the market from every new day of non-compliance,"
he added.
The company has paid dearly for its standoff with the European Commission, which
levied[9]
a record fine of 497 million euros on it in March 2004 for abusing its dominant
market power.
After a five-year investigation, Kroes' predecessor Mario Monti took the commission's
biggest competition decision ever in ruling that Microsoft had broken EU law by
using a quasi-monopoly in personal computer operating systems to thwart[10]
rivals.
In addition to fining Microsoft, the EU ordered the company to sell a version
of its Windows operating system without Media Player software and to divulge[11]
information on Windows needed by makers of rival products.
Although Microsoft has paid the fine, it has fought tooth-and-nail over the
information it is supposed to reveal to competitors.
Microsoft says that it is releasing reams of key computer code needed by programmers
of rival products and claims the commission was too vague in defining exactly
how it must comply with the 2004 ruling.
"The record will show that Microsoft has acted in good faith to comply with
the Commission's decision," Smith said.
"We delivered thousands of pages of technical documents from December 2004
onward," he added.
Smith said Microsoft had offered to change its planned successor to its Windows
operating system, known as Vista, to avoid future competition problems.
Kroes acknowledged that Microsoft had made progress in recent weeks to release
the information needed by rivals although it still had to be reviewed by an
independent trustee monitoring the process.
"We have to wait for the final result, but anyhow from June 20th, over the
last three weeks, they did an extremely good job," Kroes said.
"My only remark is why wait that long and why not do that earlier?"
[2] slap
【＠】スラップ、【変化】《動》slaps
| slapping | slapped、【大学入試】
【名-1】打つこと、平手打ち
【名-2】化粧
【名-3】隙間、裂け目、山あいの狭い道、峠道
【自動】ピシャリと＾打つ［音を立てる］、はたく、ひっぱたく
【他動-1】ピシャリと＾打つ［音を立てる］、はたく、ひっぱたく、平手で＾叩く［打つ］、引っ叩く
【他動-2】（無造作に）放り投げる、ポンと置く
【他動-3】非難する、侮蔑する
【他動-4】（罰金・制限などを）課す、執行する
【他動-5】塗りたくる、べっとり塗る
【他動-6】裂け目を作る
[3] fine
【＠】ファイン、【変化】《形》finer
| finest 《動》fines | fining |
fined、【大学入試】
【形-1】晴れた、晴天の
【形-2】素晴らしい、素敵な、洗練された、立派な
【形-3】構わない、結構な、よい
【形-4】品質の優れた、上質の、最高級の
【形-5】純度の高い
【形-6】とても魅力的な◆人について
【形-7】繊細な、細い
【形-8】巧妙な
【名】罰金
【他動】罰金を科する、科料にする
[5] appeal
【＠】アッピール、アピール、【変化】《動》appeals | appealing | appealed、【大学入試】
【名-1】訴え、嘆願、要求、哀訴、懇願、懇請、世論や武力に訴えること、陳情
【名-2】人を引き付ける力、＾人気［興味］を起こさせる力、魔力、魅力、訴求力
【名-3】アピール、抗議
【名-4】《法律》上訴、控訴、上告、審判（請求）、抗告審判
【自動-1】注意を喚起する
【自動-2】援助を求める、求める、懇請する、懇願する、訴える、要請する、頼む
【自動-3】受ける、気に入る、興味をそそる、魅力がある
【自動-4】上訴する、直訴する、抗告する、審判を請求する
【自動-5】抗議する
【他動】〜を訴える、〜を＾上訴［上告・控訴］する
[7] defy
【＠】デファイ、【変化】《動》defies
| defying | defied、【大学入試】
【他動】拒む、拒否する、否定する、反抗する、平然と無視する、打破する、食ってかかる、挑む、努力しても到らない、〜を受け付けない、寄せ付けない