According to a report by the Financial Times, the EU’s
Competition Commissioner Mario Monti will in a few months set out
the measures which Microsoft must take to prevent further abuse of
its dominant position – measures which are expected to go further
than the terms being proposed in the US.
The FT reports that the EU's measures may include the provision
of a large amount of technical information to Microsoft’s
competitors, a fine which could be anything up to a maximum of 10%
of the company’s turnover, and a forced separation of Media Player
from Windows.
Microsoft has argued in the US that it cannot produce a
“modular” version of Windows. The nine US states which dissent from
the Justice Department’s proposed settlement with Microsoft had
argued that it could produce such a version.
The states had cited a computer-testing consultant, James Bach,
who was to demonstrate such a system to the court. Dismissing
Microsoft’s objections, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly gave
permission for the demo to proceed. However, the states yesterday
abandoned their planned demo. The reason given was that it would
prolong the case unreasonably because Microsoft demanded an
indefinite period of time to prepare its response. Microsoft said
that, when the states named Bach, it received 10 versions of Bach’s
program and 67 CDs of supporting documentation.
