Microsoft dubs EU anti-trust fine as 'excessive'
By Foo Yun Chee |
May 25, 2011, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AN 899 million euro (US$1.3 billion) antitrust fine imposed by European Union regulators was excessive, Microsoft told an EU court yesterday, in a case expected to draw a line under its decade-long battle in Europe.
The 2008 European Commission fine - a record at the time - penalized Microsoft for failing to comply with the regulator's order four years earlier to provide information that would allow other products to work with computers running its software.
The software firm has since taken a more conciliatory approach, highlighted by an agreement with the regulator in 2009 to let users of its Windows operating system to choose their own browser.
The fine was "most undeserved," Jean Francois Bellis, Microsoft's lawyer told the General Court, Europe's second-highest. "This case would not have arisen if the Commission had been as explicit with respect to rates which it wanted Microsoft to charge as it had been with all other terms of licensing proposed by Microsoft," he said.
The General Court typically gives its verdict in six months to just over a year after a hearing. Appeals can be lodged with the EU Court of Justice, Europe's highest court.
The odds would appear to be in the Commission's favor, said Christian Riss-Madsen, a partner at law firm O'Melveny & Myers.
"I would think, based on its track record, the court would be reluctant to overrule the Commission's fining decision, giving the Commission some discretion in its enforcement," he said.
The hearing will be watched by companies challenging regulatory fines, among them Intel, which has appealed in EU courts against a 1.06 billion euro penalty imposed by the Commission last year.
Microsoft's non-compliance penalty was nearly double the original 497 million euro fine the Commission imposed on the firm in 2004 for abusing its dominant position to thwart competitors.
The 2008 European Commission fine - a record at the time - penalized Microsoft for failing to comply with the regulator's order four years earlier to provide information that would allow other products to work with computers running its software.
The software firm has since taken a more conciliatory approach, highlighted by an agreement with the regulator in 2009 to let users of its Windows operating system to choose their own browser.
The fine was "most undeserved," Jean Francois Bellis, Microsoft's lawyer told the General Court, Europe's second-highest. "This case would not have arisen if the Commission had been as explicit with respect to rates which it wanted Microsoft to charge as it had been with all other terms of licensing proposed by Microsoft," he said.
The General Court typically gives its verdict in six months to just over a year after a hearing. Appeals can be lodged with the EU Court of Justice, Europe's highest court.
The odds would appear to be in the Commission's favor, said Christian Riss-Madsen, a partner at law firm O'Melveny & Myers.
"I would think, based on its track record, the court would be reluctant to overrule the Commission's fining decision, giving the Commission some discretion in its enforcement," he said.
The hearing will be watched by companies challenging regulatory fines, among them Intel, which has appealed in EU courts against a 1.06 billion euro penalty imposed by the Commission last year.
Microsoft's non-compliance penalty was nearly double the original 497 million euro fine the Commission imposed on the firm in 2004 for abusing its dominant position to thwart competitors.
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