Microsoft may have to pay out a a substantial ?561 million (US$731 million) fine over its business practices. But the total bill could have been even higher, according to Europe's antitrust chief.
The software giant was hit with the fine by the European Commission for failing to offer a browser choice page for 14 months following its upgrade to Windows 7 in early 2011. The browser ballot screen was set as a requirement by the Commission after Microsoft was found to have breached European Union competition laws by bundling Internet Explorer browser with the Windows OS.
Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia could have imposed a fine of up to 10 percent of Microsoft?s global annual revenue?around $7 billion. But he said that the final figure was calculated based on the length of time of the infringement. That Microsoft cooperated with the Commission and restored the browser choice screen as soon as the omission was reported was a mitigating factor, Almunia said.
However, a failure to comply with settlement commitments, whether intentional or not, is a very serious infringement that must be sanctioned accordingly, the Commissioner said.
To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
RESEARCH IN MOTION ROGERS COMMUNICATIONS SAIC SATYAM COMPUTER SERVICES SES
No comments:
Post a Comment