Microsoft, EC take positions

Anti-trust appeal begins

By John Oates at the Court of First Instance, Luxembourg • Get more from this author

Posted in Operating Systems, 24th April 2006 08:36 GMT

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MS v EU: Day one Microsoft is back in court today to try and get the Court of First Instance to overturn the record fine imposed on it by the Competition Commission.

At hearings all week it will try and convince judges that it has opened up access to server protocols in a meaningful way and made life easier for makers of rival media players.

Monday and Tuesday, well at least til lunchtime, are devoted to tying of the media player to the OS. On Wednesday and Thursday, the court considers issues of interoperability, and on Friday we'll hear the summing up and debate of the fine. Microsoft is facing fines of $2m a day - for every day the EC decides it is not complying with court orders.

At stake is not just a slice of Microsoft's European revenues, which is how the fine was decided, but also the future power of such Competion Commission legal action.

This will not be the last time Microsoft and the commission meet in court. The commission is looking at other issues and has already started making noises about Microsoft's next big release, Vista.

We have a reporter in court so will have more details later. ®

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