Microsoft fined €280.5 million by European Union

THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION said that Microsoft is still behaving illegally and slapped it with a fine of €280.5 million ($357 million).

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said that Microsoft will face a fine of €3 million a day from the 31st of July unless it stops its illegal conduct. It, she said, isn't complying with a March 2004 order made by the EC.

No company, she said, is above the law. It's the first time the Commission has slapped a fine on a firm for refusing to obey an earlier order.

She said: "The Commission is obliged to ensure compliance with EU law, and I have always underlined my determination to ensure that Microsoft fully implements the Commission's March 2004 Decision."

She continued: "I regret that, more than two years after the Decision, and despite an Order from the President of the Court of First Instance that the Microsoft appeal to the Court does not suspend Microsoft's obligation to comply, Microsoft has still not put an end to its illegal conduct."

She said: "Any businesses operating in the EU must obey EU law I sincerely hope that the latest technical documentation being delivered by Microsoft will finally bring them into compliance and that further penalty payments will not prove necessary."

Ouch. µ