Microsoft Corp, under threat of 2 million euros (US$2.38 million) a day in fines, on Wednesday answered EU complaints that it had failed to comply with an antitrust ruling by outlining a list of its own accusations.
The software maker filed a 75-page response to the EU's formal charges right on the day of the deadline, citing its complaints that the European Commission had ignored key information and denied it due process in defending itself.
"The Commission repeatedly refused to clearly define its requirements and concerns, despite repeated requests and accommodations by Microsoft," the company said.
The EU strongly denied this, saying it had repeatedly reminded Microsoft of the need to provide "complete and accurate specifications." It said it sent Microsoft a first report from experts in June last year, expressing "very serious doubts" about the technical documentation the company had supplied.
In March 2004, the EU levied a record 497 million euros (US$613 million) fine against Microsoft, ordering the company to share technical data that would allow rivals to make their programs compatible with Microsoft. In December the EU said Microsoft was proving intransigent about complying and threatened to impose extra daily fines.
The EU said it will judge in the coming weeks if Microsoft has obeyed the antitrust order.
"The Commission may then issue a decision for non-compliance ... imposing a fine on Microsoft for every day between 15 December 2005 and the date of that decision," it said in a statement.
"In the case of continued non-compliance, the Commission may then take other steps to continue the daily fine until Microsoft complies with the March 2004 decision."
Microsoft insisted it had "complied fully with the technical documentation requirements."
"Hundreds of Microsoft employees and contractors have worked for more than 30,000 hours to create over 12,000 pages of detailed technical documents that are available for license," the company said in a statement.
An independent monitor had found that the documents provided by Microsoft last autumn needed a drastic overhaul to make them workable.
Computer science professor Neil Barrett wrote a critical report about the company's efforts to comply with the EU's ruling, saying he and a colleague had been unable to use Microsoft's instructions to make rival software work with Microsoft servers.
Microsoft said the EU had been slow to tell it about the problems and EU officials in Brussels had not bothered to read documents Microsoft made available at its US headquarters days before the EU filed formal charges on Dec. 21.
The EU said this was untrue.
"This documentation was actually supplied on 26 December to the Commission, 11 days after the 15 December deadline and 5 days after the statement of objection was sent," it said. "This new technical documentation indeed addressed only `formatting issues.'"
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
RSS