"Microsoft today filed with the Court of First Instance an
application to annul the Commission decision of February 27," a
Microsoft spokesman told reporters on Friday. "We are filing this
appeal in a constructive effort to seek clarity from the
court."
Microsoft was fined because of its failure to comply with a 2004
decision from the Commission which found that Microsoft had behaved
in an anti-competitive manner. That decision contained instructions
for Microsoft on how it must behave in the future.
The Commission found that it was not until October 2007 that the
US software giant complied with those instructions. It fined it
€899 million for that non-compliance on top of the €497 million
fine originally levied in 2004.
"Microsoft was the first company in fifty years of EU
competition policy that the Commission has had to fine for failure
to comply with an antitrust decision", said European Competition
Commissioner Neelie Kroes in February, announcing the new fine. "I
hope that today's Decision closes a dark chapter in Microsoft's
record of non-compliance with the Commission’s March 2004
Decision."
Microsoft has appealed that decision to the Court of First
Instance (CFI), Europe's second highest court. It had also appealed
the 2004 ruling and the CFI found in the European Commission's
favour last year.
The original sanction was connected to Microsoft's dominance of
the market for personal computer operating systems. The Commission
said that it had used its 95% market share to stop rivals'
technology from gaining a foothold.
It, and the CFI, found that Microsoft had failed to give rivals
the information needed to make sure their technology worked with
Microsoft Windows operating systems. It also found that the
inclusion of media playing software in the Windows package
undermined competition from other media software producers.
The CFI backed that ruling in September of last year and the
Commission issued its fine in February.
In January the Commission began a new, similar case against
Microsoft. The case claims that Microsoft has again failed to
provide interoperability information to competitors, and that its
inclusion of browser Internet Explorer will stifle competition in
the browser market.
