European antitrust regulators will fine Microsoft 497 million euros, or US$613 million, today when it rules that the company abused its monopoly in computer operating systems, people close to the company said on Monday.
The fine, which was set late last week after settlement talks with Microsoft broke down, was endorsed by national regulators from the 15 member nations of the EU on Monday.
Microsoft said the fine was too big.
"In view of the absence of a clear legal standard under EU law, a fine of this size isn't warranted," said Tom Brookes, the company's spokesman in Brussels.
Yesterday, the fine was to be discussed by senior aides to all 20 commissioners before being brought up at the European Commission's final meeting on the case this morning.
Microsoft would then be officially notified of the fine and sent a summary of the ruling by fax, shortly before Mario Monti, competition commissioner, announces the decision.
Under EU antitrust laws, the commission can set a fine of as much as 10 percent of a company's global sales -- in Microsoft's case more than US$35 billion. European antitrust regulators, however, have never fined a company 10 percent, and Brussels-based lawyers and officials had expected the fine against Microsoft to total between 100 million euros and 1 billion euros.
The biggest previous fine imposed by the commission was 462 million euros, or about US$406 million at the exchange rate at that time, against Roche of Switzerland in 2001 for its role in a number of cartels that fixed prices and market shares of vitamin products in the 1990s. (Seven other vitamin makers were fined lesser amounts in the case.)
Still, some people close to Microsoft had been speculating over the weekend that the commission would not issue any fine at all.
But Amelia Torres, a spokeswoman for Monti, said, "We have already told Microsoft many times that a negative ruling will incur a fine. A small company could claim it didn't know the rules, but not one the size of Microsoft."
Microsoft abused the monopoly position of its Windows operating system in two different ways, the commission is expected to rule today. By withholding vital information about Windows from rival makers of software for PC network server computers, the company gained an unfair advantage in the separate market for server software. It also competed unfairly by including its Media Player audio-video software as part of Windows. The commission is expected to announce remedies to restore competition in these markets, requiring Microsoft to sell two versions of Windows to PC makers in Europe, one of them with Media Player stripped out.
It would also have to share more secret Windows code to allow rival server software makers to compete with Microsoft server software more fairly, according to people close to the case. Computer servers drive networks of PCs.
These remedies would have more of an impact on Microsoft than a fine, because the company has more than US$50 billion in cash reserves and has already set some of that aside for covering legal costs.
After negotiations toward a settlement of the charges collapsed last week, Microsoft's chief lawyer, Brad Smith, said the company would appeal any ruling at the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
WARFARE: All sectors of society should recognize, unite, and collectively resist and condemn Beijing’s cross-border suppression, MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng said The number of Taiwanese detained because of legal affairs by Chinese authorities has tripled this year, as Beijing intensified its intimidation and division of Taiwanese by combining lawfare and cognitive warfare, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. MAC Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) made the statement in response to questions by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Puma Shen (沈柏洋) about the government’s response to counter Chinese public opinion warfare, lawfare and psychological warfare. Shen said he is also being investigated by China for promoting “Taiwanese independence.” He was referring to a report published on Tuesday last week by China’s state-run Xinhua news agency,
‘ADDITIONAL CONDITION’: Taiwan will work with like-minded countries to protect its right to participate in next year’s meeting, the foreign ministry said The US will “continue to press China for security arrangements and protocols that safeguard all participants when attending APEC meetings in China,” a US Department of State spokesperson said yesterday, after Beijing suggested that members must adhere to its “one China principle” to participate. “The United States insists on the full and equal participation of all APEC member economies — including Taiwan — consistent with APEC’s guidelines, rules and established practice, as affirmed by China in its offer to host in 2026,” the unnamed spokesperson said in response to media queries about China putting a “one China” principle condition on Taiwan’s
RSS