EC will fine Microsoft

THE EUROPEAN Commission has said that it has had a guts full of Microsoft's procrastination over the implementation of its 2004 antitrust decision and is set to fine the outfit £1.4 million a day.

Vole has said that it began to provide the information that Brussels had demanded, but the commission said the effort had come too late. It had warned Vole six months ago that it would fine the outfit if it didn't do something immediately.

Under the ruling, Microsoft had to supply rivals with information about its Windows operating system, but according to the Beeb, commissioners are miffed that it took Vole six months to begin handing over information.

A draft ruling will be presented to national competition authorities on Monday, while an official ruling is expected on 12 July.

Microsoft said that any fine would be unfair as it was "working hard" to meet the Commission's demands. It was going to submit some more information on 30 June and 18 July, a spokesVole claimed.

Vole has been opposed to the handing over of what it considers as "commercially sensitive information" to its rivals.

More at the BBC. µ