EU threatens Microsoft with new fines

[KiwiCoromandel]

EU threatens Microsoft with new fines

Brussels

March 21, 2005 - 12:00AM

The European Union threatened Microsoft Corp. on Friday with new fines if the software company did not make it easier and cheaper for competitors to see the blueprints of its server software.

After hearing from Microsoft's rivals, the EU's antitrust office determined that the system created by Microsoft for granting competitors access to Windows server source code was unsatisfactory.

"Based on the market tests, it doesn't seem to be working at all," said Jonathan Todd, the spokesman for the EU's antitrust office.

EU antitrust regulators fined Microsoft a record €497 million ($US665 million) when they ruled a year ago that Microsoft abusively wielded its Windows software monopoly to lock competitors out of the market.

They ordered, among other things, that Microsoft share Windows server code with rivals so their products can better communicate on networks with machines that run Windows operating systems.

Microsoft decided it would provide the information through licences, which Todd said the European Commission felt were too expensive.

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http://smh.com.au/news/Breaking/EU-threate...1086044389.html