EU Fines Microsoft $1.3 Billion 699
jd writes "The EU has slammed Microsoft with a fine of €899 million ($1.337 billion at current exchange rates) for perpetuating violations of the 2004 antitrust ruling.The fine is the sum of daily fines running from June 21, 2006 to October 21, 2007. It is the first company ever to be fined for non-compliance. The amazing thing is that the EU now expects Microsoft to comply and 'close a dark chapter' in their history. The EU has opened new investigations into Microsoft's practices and gave a lukewarm response to the company's turning over yet another new leaf last week."
Re:1.3 billion (Score:5, Informative)
I also don't understand why the size of the fine "clearly" indicates that people are lining their pockets. This is not the largest fine ever issued. (ExxonMobil was fined $5 Billion for Exxon Valdez, later halved, but so far not paid.)
Re:And what if not? (Score:5, Informative)
And they'll keep doing it for as long as it takes.
Re:Well... (Score:5, Informative)
Today it hit the lowest ever value against the Euro.
Re:Even as an MS fan, good... (Score:5, Informative)
They do again and again. It's mostly, but not always price fixing. Other examples include Volkswagen that threatened their Italian dealers to pull the dealership when they sold to customers not living in Italy.
Fines are usually very hefty and companies usually comply. Micropsoft risks to fall really flat on their face if they try their usual stints here.
Re:Unfair? (Score:5, Informative)
"You are not allowed to use a monopoly in one area to try and leverage an advantage in another area."
That is why different rules apply to Apple and various X/GNU/Linux distributors as apply to Microsoft.
Microsoft has an effective monopoly in the desktop OS market, and by bundling Windows Media Player (and MSIE for that matter...), they are creating a situation where people might use it to create WMP files (especially as that is the default).
You might say that it isn't a big deal if people rip CDs to WMP, but then they want to play them on a portable media player, they have to make sure that it plays them. The company that makes the media player is giving a kick-back (patent licencing?) to Microsoft, and thus Microsoft is leveraging its monopoly in the desktop OS to give it an advantage in another market.
That is just one example of why they shouldn't be allowed to do it, but there are plenty of others.
"Steelie" Neelie Kroes (Score:1, Informative)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/inbusiness/inbusiness_20080124.shtml [bbc.co.uk]
She really is for the consumer and for competition, this is NOT a EU vs US thing.
Re:And what if not? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:It would be interesting... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:1.3 billion (Score:0, Informative)
Re:And what if not? (Score:1, Informative)
YES RLY... That's a constituion, I said Treaties. There's a difference.
Other EU countries may have referendums on treaties sometimes but their govs can make the decision themselves, but Ireland are required by our own constitution to have a referendum every time.
Well, they do actually... (Score:1, Informative)
EU's Press release on this specific matter [europa.eu]
And a FAQ of why MS is getting fined when they say they have complied in 2007 [europa.eu]
Re:Well... (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Even as an MS fan, good... (Score:5, Informative)
Lift cartel: http://www.eubusiness.com/Competition/lifts-cartel-eu.33 [eubusiness.com]
Zippers: http://www.eubusiness.com/Competition/1190197926.91/ [eubusiness.com]
Dutch brewers: http://www.eubusiness.com/Competition/beer-cartel.09/ [eubusiness.com]
All hundred million dollar fines or more...
Re:1.3 billion (Score:5, Informative)
From the EU website:
The penalty payment is paid into the EU Budget. It does not increase the budget, but reduces the contribution from Member States and so from taxpayers.
So in deference to us paying the Microsoft tax Microsoft is paying (a small part of) EU tax, brilliant
Re:Interoperability of Office? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:MS can't win (Score:3, Informative)
Re:And what if not? (Score:4, Informative)
The fines will just keep increasing until they can't afford not to comply. And if they don't pay, bank accounts will be frozen etc etc. If that doesn't do it, the company will eventually be declared bankrupt and their assets will be sold to the highest bidders.
In contrast to what the MS fanboys say about the subject, they will not get away with non compliance as they did in the US.
EU politicians *cannot* be bought and they will not be scared by threats of MS leaving Europe. Not that I believe MS would make such a threat, which would be extremely stupid and would make all of their customers run.
I strongly believe that MS will just pay the fines and start complying and everyone will just be happy in the end.
Re:Now what the EU need to do next... (Score:1, Informative)
Abusive modding (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Unfair? (Score:5, Informative)
Because MSFT dragged their feet in complying they were fined some 2 million euros a day. This is that fine. this has nothing to do with windows media player as MSFT already took care of that part by releasing a media player free version of windows.
Also as a side effect this is 1.3 billion less dollars that MSFT will have to buy Yahoo with. Some 6% of the cash MSFT has on hand.
Re:And what if not? (Score:3, Informative)
Re:1.3 billion (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Well... (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Well... (Score:5, Informative)
Euro an ECU are not the same thing, but when the second replaced the first one, its value was chosen to be initially the same. Look for the ECU [wikipedia.org] and Euro [wikipedia.org] wikipedia pages.
Also coins and notes are available only since 2002.
Re:Business-Friendly EU (Score:1, Informative)
Re:Well... (Score:4, Informative)
And rather than fix it by raising interest rates, the Fed is doing the opposite, attempting to stave off a recession that's going to happen anyway. The sad thing is, they're only making things dramatically worse, because they're setting the U.S. economy on the road to hyperinflation. What good will it do trying to encourage consumption when the foreign goods they want us to consume keep getting more expensive?
Capitolism? (Score:3, Informative)
That is exactly the system we have in place. A well-regulated market, structured to further advantage the entrenched position of already concentrated wealth, at the expense of all other consideration.
UGN Indeed!
Re:Ugly Americans (Score:3, Informative)
We don't have to wonder, we just have to look at the EU council's record of prosecuting companies based in the EU for antitrust abuse. (They've done it many times.)
You research not... but you still make uninformed assertions.
Re:Ugly Americans (Score:3, Informative)