Microsoft CEO is going to have to get out the chequebook today as the European Union has decided to hit the software giant with a massive fine this morning:
The fine, equivalent to $732 million, is first time that E.U. regulators have punished a company for neglecting to comply with the terms of an antitrust settlement, and it could signal their determination to enforce deals in other cases, including one involving Google, where such an agreement is under discussion.
“Legally binding commitments reached in antitrust decisions play a very important role in our enforcement policy, because they allow for rapid solutions to competition problems,” said Joaquín Almunia, the Union’s competition commissioner. “Of course such decisions require strict compliance” and the “failure to comply is a very serious infringement that must be sanctioned accordingly.”
Why have they gone this route? Microsoft failed to live up to an agreement regarding giving EU customers a choice in browsers:
The penalty Wednesday stemmed from an antitrust settlement in 2009 that called on Microsoft to give Windows users in Europe a choice of Web browsers, instead of pushing them to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
Microsoft failed to offer users such a choice for more than a year — apparently without the failure’s being noticed by anyone at the company or the commission.
The company admitted the problem and apologized last year. It said the failure had been a result of a technical issue that had escaped its notice, and it updated its Windows 7 and Windows 8 software to give European users the browser choice.
Now, it is possible that Microsoft might appeal this. But I don’t think that’s going to happen. I believe that they are likely to cut a cheque and move on. But one has to wonder if this is the start of a trend in the EU and will other companies face the same punishment? We shall see.
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This entry was posted on March 6, 2013 at 7:21 am and is filed under Commentary with tags EU, Lawsuit, Microsoft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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Microsoft Slapped With $732 Million Fine Over Lack Of Browser Choice
Microsoft CEO is going to have to get out the chequebook today as the European Union has decided to hit the software giant with a massive fine this morning:
The fine, equivalent to $732 million, is first time that E.U. regulators have punished a company for neglecting to comply with the terms of an antitrust settlement, and it could signal their determination to enforce deals in other cases, including one involving Google, where such an agreement is under discussion.
“Legally binding commitments reached in antitrust decisions play a very important role in our enforcement policy, because they allow for rapid solutions to competition problems,” said Joaquín Almunia, the Union’s competition commissioner. “Of course such decisions require strict compliance” and the “failure to comply is a very serious infringement that must be sanctioned accordingly.”
Why have they gone this route? Microsoft failed to live up to an agreement regarding giving EU customers a choice in browsers:
The penalty Wednesday stemmed from an antitrust settlement in 2009 that called on Microsoft to give Windows users in Europe a choice of Web browsers, instead of pushing them to Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.
Microsoft failed to offer users such a choice for more than a year — apparently without the failure’s being noticed by anyone at the company or the commission.
The company admitted the problem and apologized last year. It said the failure had been a result of a technical issue that had escaped its notice, and it updated its Windows 7 and Windows 8 software to give European users the browser choice.
Now, it is possible that Microsoft might appeal this. But I don’t think that’s going to happen. I believe that they are likely to cut a cheque and move on. But one has to wonder if this is the start of a trend in the EU and will other companies face the same punishment? We shall see.
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This entry was posted on March 6, 2013 at 7:21 am and is filed under Commentary with tags EU, Lawsuit, Microsoft. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.