Microsoft Monday said it met the European Union antimonopoly agency ’s deadline for responding to allegations that the company pluck for the selective information contender need to make their products cultivate swimmingly with Windows .
“ Microsoft confirmed that it has submitted today its reception to the European Commission ’s Statement of Objections ( SO ) of March 1 , 2007 concerning the pricing of licence for the Workgroup Server Protocol Program ( WSPP ) , ” the troupe suppose in a statement .
OnMarch 1 , the EU ’s Competition Commission , which is led by Neelie Kroes of the Netherlands , sprain up the heat in its 14 - year warfare with Microsoft by threatening new fines of up to $ 4 million a day . Then , the commission file an official assertion of objection that said Microsoft ’s gather communications protocol support lacked “ important initiation , ” which in turn made the cost the company want to charge competitors “ unreasonable . ”
According toreports earlier this monthin theFinancial Times , the commission ’s technical adviser , Neil Barrett , had told the EU that even an average royal family rate of 1 per centum would be “ unacceptable , ” and that 0 percent would be “ better . ” Microsoft currently tear as much as 5.95 percent of a company ’s server revenue as a license fee , theTimessaid .
Originally , the mission gave Microsoft until April 3 to respond to its dissent , but of late last month itextended the deadlineto Monday at Microsoft ’s request .
Before the reference , Kroes had called Microsoft ’s behavior “ unacceptable ” in a spoken language in front of the EU Parliament . Last Friday , at an antitrust - pertain get together of American Bar Association lawyers , Kroes said , “ We have never , ever before encountered a company that has refused to comply with commission decisions . ” She go on to say that her commissioning might have to reconsider how it dealt with companies that ignored its fiat . “ We check [ from this that ] we may have to look for a more effective redress , ” she say .
Microsoft did not take that sit down . Today , a spokesman retell a idiomatic expression society executives have used in the past when blab about the EU and what the software vendor sees as mirky orders .
“ We have done everything humanly possible to follow with a decision that is unfortunately very indecipherable and undefined , and we will go on to work with the commission in every direction that we can , ” the spokesman say .
Although Microsoft is entitle to an oral hearing on the EU ’s objections to its protocol permission pricing — something it has taken advantage of before — the company said today that it would forswear that right .
“ We extend to attempt to decide these late issues , ” read Brad Smith , Microsoft ’s world-wide pleader , in a statement . “ We need peachy clarity on what price the charge wants us to lodge , and we believe that is more probable to come from a constructive conversation than from a formal hearing . ”
The EU commission recognize that it had received Microsoft ’s reply , as well as the fact that the fellowship did not request an oral audience . “ The deputation will now consider Microsoft ’s reply and decide whether to impose a daily penalization on Microsoft for bankruptcy to abide by with the March 2004 decision , ” the commission say in a statement .
The EU - Microsoft case , which start in the nineties , resulted in a $ 613 million mulct in 2004 ; the company was also ordered to apportion several server protocol with competition as compensation for what the EU said were Microsoft ’s monopolistic practice . Last July , the commission added another $ 373 million in amercement , saying Microsoft was drop back its ft in preparing the documentation . Microsoft has appealed both fines in EU courts .
The $ 4 - million - per - 24-hour interval mulct , if levied by the EU , would be retroactive to July 2006 .
