The European Commission (EC), which fined Microsoft a record 497 million euros (US$625.50 million) this year for abusing its dominant position, on Monday vowed to continue pursuing the US software group through the courts for anti-competitive behavior.
The comments came as Microsoft shareholders approved plans to hand back US$32 billion to investors through a one-off special dividend of US$3 a share. The dividend was approved a day after Microsoft for the first time put a figure on its outstanding legal liabilities from the monopoly abuse cases of the 1990s, capping them at US$950 million.
EC officials were scathing about Microsoft's alleged efforts to "buy the silence" of rivals. On Monday it reached a US$536 million settlement with software maker Novell, and a ceasefire with the US Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA). As part of the settlements, both withdrew from the Brussels case.
Sources said it was "insulting the intelligence" of the European court of justice to suggest, via Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, that there was less need to pursue litigation when the group's rivals apart from RealNetworks had settled. "Competition rules don't exist to defend the interests of this or that competitor but to ensure there is genuine competition in the market-place which benefits consumers," they said. "With an estimated cash pile of US$64 billion Microsoft will see the cost of these settlements as derisory."
The European court of first instance is due this month to rule on Microsoft's request for a freeze on the EC's "remedies," which include ordering it to offer a version of its Windows operating system without MediaPlayer, following a fractious two-day hearing in September.
Microsoft announced plans to hand back a large amount of cash to investors in July. It was reluctant to commit its growing cash balance until the long-running suits were resolved.
It laid the US government case against it to rest in the agreement with the CCIA and has been steadily settling the remaining cases. The trade body was the only remaining interested party trying to force a supreme court review of Microsoft's settlement with the justice department.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique