According to reports, Kroes said she could not imagine any other way than the EC imposing antitrust fines against the software maker. She also pointed out that no European Union country had yet opposed the notion of fining Microsoft for failing to comply with an earlier EC antitrust ruling.
The actual amount of the fine, which may be as much as $2.5m a day, backdated to mid-December, was not yet decided on, Kroes reportedly said.
After a five-year investigation, the EC ruled in March 2004 that Microsoft had allegedly set up a quasi-monopoly with its Windows OS. The EC said that having Microsoft’s work group server software built into the OS prevented other software makers from fairly competing against it.
The EC ordered Microsoft to provide technical interconnection information about its work group servers to rivals to ensure their products could connect to Windows’ software as easily as Microsoft’s.
Microsoft indeed produced a large technical document, but the EC ruled it unacceptable, citing a lack of specific, granular information. Microsoft argued it had the right to protect its intellectual property.
By November 2005, the EC was fed up and set a mid-December deadline for Microsoft to either comply or face fines. Microsoft missed the deadline.
The software maker agreed to come up with documentation by July 18. Should it also fail to meet that deadline, the EC may well impose future fines in addition to the daily fines backdated to mid-December.
Neelie told reporters in Germany that dealing with the Microsoft case is among the agency’s top priorities.
