As European regulators have not yet reached a decision on
whether Microsoft has violated EU antitrust laws by abusing its
dominant market position to gain unfair advantage against rivals,
the software giant is to make a final attempt to settle the
allegations, according to Reuters and The Wall Street Journal.
The European Commission has been investigating Microsoft since
1998, when competitors accused the company of failing to disclose
hardware specifications necessary to integrate non-Microsoft
software into corporate networks.
If the Commission decides that Microsoft has violated European
competition rules, it has the power to fine the company up to 10%
of its worldwide annual revenues.
Although the Commission was expected to issue its decision by
the end of 2002, no conclusion has been reached and the case is
still under review. Microsoft now reportedly plans to submit a
detailed document, explaining how the company is going to address
the European investigators' concerns. The content of the proposals
is, at the moment, unknown.
