Microsoft-EU Anti-Trust Case

Guide Note

The European Commission ruled in 2004 that Microsoft had violated European anti-trust laws. A lengthy investigation determined that Microsoft had enacted licensing, royalty and product-integration requirements that granted the company an unfair advantage over competitors. Though Microsoft paid the first court-imposed fine that year, it was charged again for not complying fully with court orders. Microsoft has filed a series of appeals in response to increasing fines by the European Commission.

Fast Facts

1. Microsoft found guilty of abusing power for an unfair advantage in software development
2. Charged with using its dominant Windows operating system to force the use of software packages such as Windows Media Player
3. European Commission made its first official ruling in 2004
4. It has since filed numerous subsequent charges and fines over Microsoft's alleged non-compliance
5. Ordered Microsoft to provide competitors with information necessary to develop software compatible with Windows
6. Commission imposed upon Microsoft the largest fines in European Union history
7. Microsoft's appeal was denied by the Court of First Instance, and fines were upheld

1. March, 2004: European Commission orders Microsoft to pay €497 million ($613 million), the then-largest fine in EU history¹
2. December, 2005: Microsoft fined an additional €2 million ($3.04 million) a day for not fully complying with court's orders
3. July 12, 2006: Additional €280.5 million ($427 million) per day added for period between December 16, 2005 and June 20, 2006
4. September 17, 2007: Microsoft's appeal denied, required to pay the levied €497 million of fines
5. February 27, 2008: Fined a further €899 million ($1.4 billion)—the new largest fine in EU history—for continued non-compliance