Brussels, 06/03/2013 (Agence Europe) - On 6 March, the European Commission fined US giant Microsoft 1% of its annual turnover, €561 million, for failing in its commitment to put a multi-choice window on its Windows operating system for five years, from 2009 to 2014. The required window, which allows users to choose different browsers rather than always Internet Explorer, did not appear between May 2011 and July 2012. This is the first fine of this type under Article 9 of EU Regulation 1/2003 by the Commission, which wants to set an example with a very high fine on a company failing to meet its legal commitments, in order to dissuade others from doing the same, explained EU Competition Commissioner Joaquim Almunia at a press conference.
In 2009, Microsoft pledged in an arrangement with the Commission to remedy the competition problems caused by the linking of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system (see EUROPE 10042). The Commission made this a legal requirement on 31 December 2009. Microsoft made a navigator choice screen available in March 2010, which allowed some 84 million users to download files using an alternative to Internet Explorer.
A report submitted by Microsoft, which had been monitoring respect of this commitment itself (for the Commission) since 2009, says that at the end of 2011, the choice window was still available for Windows users. However, an investigation by the Commission after it received a complaint showed in July 2012 that the multiple choice screen had not be included in Service Pack 1 for Windows 7 between May 2011 and July 2012, thus preventing some 15 million Windows users in the EU from using other navigators. Microsoft admitted its guilt, saying it was due to a “technical error.”
The Commission set the fine to match the scale of the crime, its duration and Microsoft's cooperation, explained the Commissioner. Asked about the length of time involved - it took fourteen months from the start of the problem and the start of the investigation - and the fact that the company had itself been monitoring respect of the commitments for the Commission, Almunia admitted that the Commission had been “naïve.” He said that since then, third parties and the European Commission had been monitoring respect of commitments and the Commission is paying more attention to companies' respect of their commitments and the follow-up reports.
Microsoft says it is not planning to appeal. (FG/transl.fl)