Out-Law News 1 min. read

Microsoft will stop trying to delay EU sanctions


Microsoft says it will not appeal a December ruling by the European Court of First Instance that sanctions imposed on the software company for a breach of antitrust laws should be implemented immediately.
Microsoft says it will not appeal a December ruling by the European Court of First Instance that sanctions imposed on the software company for a breach of antitrust laws should be implemented immediately.

Microsoft had been hoping to delay implementation until it had completed its appeal against the original antitrust ruling.

This means that Microsoft now has to disclose details of the interfaces required for third party products to be able to "talk" with Windows, to any business wishing to develop and distribute work group server operating systems.

Microsoft also has to offer for sale in Europe a version of Windows without Windows Media Player, although it can also market the operating system with Windows Media Player.

The sanctions are the result of a European Commission ruling in March 2004. This found that Microsoft broke competition law by leveraging its near monopoly in the market for PC operating systems onto the markets for work group server operating systems and for media players.

Because the illegal behaviour was still ongoing, the Commission ordered Microsoft to disclose to competitors, within 120 days, the 'specifications' (but not the source code) for its client-to-server and server-to-server communications protocols.

Microsoft was also required to offer the stripped-down version of Windows to PC manufacturers and when selling directly to end users and it was fined €497 million for abusing its market dominance in the EU.

Microsoft paid the fine into an escrow account in July, where it will be held until the appeal against the ruling has been resolved. It then asked the Court of First Instance to suspend the sanctions until the antitrust appeals process had been completed – a process that could take up to five years to complete.

In June the Commission confirmed that it would not enforce the sanctions until the European Court of First Instance had decided whether a suspension was actually appropriate. The Court issued its ruling in December, finding that no such suspension was necessary.

Microsoft, which has been considering its position with regard to the ruling, announced on Monday that it would not appeal.

The first Media Player-free versions of Windows are due to be released into EU shops in the next few weeks, for the same price as the complete version – making it difficult to see why consumers would choose the reduced version. Microsoft has also published a web site that details licensing information for the communications protocols.

The substance of the case, namely Microsoft's original appeal against the Commission's decision, has still to be heard.

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