The Register® — Biting the hand that feeds IT

Microsoft runs out of EC time

Three strikes and you're out

Free whitepaper – Managing operating systems and applications with the new Dell Management Console

Microsoft is facing fines from the European Commission after failing to get an extension on a deadline it had been set by the competition police.

The Competition Directorate had already extended, from December 15, a deadline for Microsoft to comply with the terms of a previous ruling, Reuters said.

The software firm, which had already paid $593m in fines to the EC, now faces further charges of $2.4m a day unless it complies with a previous anti-trust ruling.

The EC had told Microsoft to help other software firms understand its operating system so they could write server software as easily as it could itself. It appeared from the EC ruling that Microsoft was doing what it could to further tighten the hold it had on the market for operating systems.

But the commission found that Microsoft was still delivering up shoddy information to other server software vendors and cried foul.

Microsoft complained that it did not get a fair opportunity to make a defence. However, the commission insisted it had opportunity enough. ®

Free whitepaper – Power distribution systems for the Dell PowerEdge M1000e Modular Server Enclosure

Don’t Miss

Windows VistaWindows 95 to Windows 7: How Microsoft lost its vision

Comment Behind the taskbar

Ubuntu teaser Ubuntu's Karmic Koala bares fangs at Windows 7

Review Shuttleworthian scrap

AppleChange your views: OS X tags exploited

Mac Secrets Apple windows insider

JavaSun preps cell-phone Java plan for netbooks

OpenWorld 09 Modules not globules