THE EUROPEAN Commission yesterday imposed a fine of €899 million on US software giant Microsoft for taking years to comply with orders from EU anti-trust regulators to allow rivals more access to its technology.
Announcing the record penalty, EU competition commissioner Neelie Kroes said the sum was "proportionate and necessary" and the move itself sends a warning to other potentially misbehaving companies that "if you flout the rules, you will be caught and it will cost you dearly".
The fine - the third in the battle between Brussels and Microsoft - brings the total charges against the company to €1.68 billion. "Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an anti-trust decision," said Ms Kroes.
At the time, the commission said the company charged "unreasonable" prices to software developers wanting to develop products compatible with the Windows desktop operating system and it fined Microsoft €497 million.
In July 2006, it fined the company a further €280.5 million for not complying with the 2004 decision. The following year, the European Court of First Instance upheld the commission's original move, agreeing the company had abused its dominant market position.
The company finally announced in October 2007 it would comply with the commission's wishes and started to charge a flat rate of €10,000 instead of a royalty rate of 3.87 per cent of a licensee's product revenues for a patent licence and 2.98 per cent for a licence giving access to interoperability information.
The company indicated in a statement it was now looking to the future.
"The commission announced in October 2007 that Microsoft was in full compliance with the 2004 decision, so these fines are about past issues that have been resolved," it said. However, Mrs Kroes's officials opened two new investigations into the company last month.
They are looking into complaints that Microsoft is using its dominant position to block rival web browsers and office software developers.
