EU fines Microsoft €280.5 million
{{date|July 12, 2006}}
 
[[w:Microsoft|Microsoft]] was fined €280.5 million today by the [[w:European Commission|European Commission]] for not complying to a 2004 antitrust ruling by the [[w:European Union|European Union]]. 

EU had ruled in 2004, asking Microsoft to provide its competitors information about its Windows operating system. This was to give the rivals a level playing ground for writing software for the Windows platform to compete with Microsoft's own offerings. 

The EU set a dead-line of July 21 for Microsoft to provide complete technical information to its competitors. If not, there may be further fines, up to €3 million a day.

The commission is saying that Microsoft has not done enough on the issue and must provide the information by July 31. Microsoft however does not agree to this and believes that it has done no wrong, and has in fact complied to the 2004 EU ruling. 

The European Union's Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes has warned Microsoft to comply with these regulations for their upcoming Operating system, Vista which is scheduled to be released in 2007. 

==Sources==
*{{source|url=http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,9075-2266623,00.html |title=EU Hits Microsoft With new fine
|author=Rhys Blakely|pub=Times Online|date= July 12, 2006}}
*{{source|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/5171126.stm|title= Microsoft hit with 280m Euro fine|author=|pub=BBC Online|date=July 12, 2006}}

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[[category:Economy and business]]
[[category:Europe]]
[[Category:European Commission]]
[[Category:European Union]]
[[Category:Crime and law]]
[[Category:Antitrust]]
[[Category:Microsoft]]

[[pt:UE multa Microsoft em 280,5 milhões de euros]]
Microsoft was fined €280.5 million today by the European Commission for not complying to a 2004 antitrust ruling by the European Union. 

EU had ruled in 2004, asking Microsoft to provide its competitors information about its Windows operating system. This was to give the rivals a level playing ground for writing software for the Windows platform to compete with Microsoft's own offerings. 

The EU set a dead-line of July 21 for Microsoft to provide complete technical information to its competitors. If not, there may be further fines, up to €3 million a day.

The commission is saying that Microsoft has not done enough on the issue and must provide the information by July 31. Microsoft however does not agree to this and believes that it has done no wrong, and has in fact complied to the 2004 EU ruling. 

The European Union's Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes has warned Microsoft to comply with these regulations for their upcoming Operating system, Vista which is scheduled to be released in 2007. 

category:Economy and business
category:Europe


UE multa Microsoft em 280,5 milhões de euros
European Commission European Union Crime and law Antitrust Microsoft