European Union regulators are circulating a draft decision in their long-running antitrust case against US software giant Microsoft, but have yet to decide on fines, a spokesperson said.
”There’s a draft decision, but the decision itself has not been made, and certainly we cannot speak of fines yet,” Amelia Torres, spokesperson for the European Commission’s antitrust section said late on Monday.
Regulators charge that Microsoft’s decision to tie its Media Player into Windows, which runs about 90% of desktop computers, ”weakens competition on the merits, stifles product innovation and ultimately reduces consumer choice.”
They have threatened a far-reaching order for Microsoft to strip the multimedia application from Windows to give rivals such as RealNetwork’s RealPlayer or Apple’s Quicktime more of a chance.
The EU Commission also wants Microsoft to disclose more software code to competitors in the market for low-end servers so they can make products that work as well with Windows as Microsoft’s own.
After November’s hearings — the last stage in the five-year-old case — the Commission said it expected to have a decision by this spring unless it reaches a settlement with the US software giant before then.
To avoid new delay, EU officials said Competition Commissioner Mario Monti would probably seek adoption of decision by the full Commission before 10 new appointees from the 10 new EU member countries join on May 1.
Antitrust decisions are circulated internally before adoption for comment, a process that could take 10 days or more. It then goes to an advisory committee of national competition authorities.
Fines are usually set later, a couple days before the decision is adopted.
Although EU regulators announced they intend to fine Microsoft for past antitrust abuses, they could still change their mind, officials said.
The EU can fine violators up to 10% of their worldwide sales — which would be more than $3-billion in Microsoft’s case.
In practice, fines have never exceeded one percent. – Sapa-AP