When a judge sentences a criminal for a crime they’ve committed, I smile for the feeling that justice has been served. But when the will and authority of 27 countries comes after you, I’d run away with my arms flailing.
CNET News.com is reporting that the European Union, who is made up 27 European countries, is fining Microsoft 899 million Euros ($1.35 billion USD) for failing to comply with sanctions.
Specifically, this dispute is the last part of an ongoing EU antitrust order from March 2004 when Microsoft was ordered to release "complete and accurate interoperability information to rivals so their software could work with the Windows operating system" along with having to, "license the information ‘under reasonable and nondiscriminatory’ terms." The EU didn’t like the latter’s licensing fees, so they slapped Microsoft with a $1.35 billion fine.
In total, the EU has fined Microsoft roughly $2.5 billion in this long-running dispute.
Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner, said, "Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the Commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision. I hope that today’s decision closes a dark chapter in Microsoft’s record of noncompliance with the Commission’s March 2004 decision."
