Brussels, 06/08/2003 (Agence Europe) - The European Commission announced on Wednesday that it has given Microsoft a final opportunity to comment before it concludes its antitrust probe and imposes a fine on the company. It has just sent the computer giant a Statement of Objections informing the company of the result of a market study. It has also asked the company to ensure the inter-operability of PCs and low-end servers and that Microsoft's tying of Windows Media Player to the Windows PC operating system be ended.
A market study carried out among users , suppliers and suppliers has confirmed and in many respects reinforces the conclusion of the Commission's position. Spokesman for competition, Timan Lueder, declared on Wednesday that their case was so solid that Microsoft could not ignore it. Mr Lueder that it would be at "Microsoft's peril" and that of its lawyers it they did not take the case seriously. He said that the Commission thinks that it has taken the case of gathering proof, sufficiently seriously to be able to go to the Court of Justice if Microsoft contested the decision legally. Lueder said that after three years of proceedings, the Commission decision would take months not years. The spokesman stressed that everything would depend on the "attitude of the company", which could ask the organisation for a hearing.
In the area of inter-operability, Commission proof has demonstrated that Microsoft has effectively used its dominant position in the PC market to dominate low-end servers used in company networks. The Commission is calling on the company to provide its competitors with the necessary interfaces to ensure interoperability between PC and servers.
As regards tying, the Commission concluded "the ubiquity of Windows Media Player on PCs (which) artificially skews their development incentives in favour of Microsoft". The Commission is calling on Microsoft to disassociate itself from Windows Media Player and agree to diffuse rival competitive media.
Microsoft considered that until now the measures taken after the proceedings in the USA and the addititional corrections would be enough. The Commission believes that the "scope of the probe is different" and the remedies demanded in the USA just focused on communication between servers, underlined Mr Lueder. He stated that the US had not dealt with the issue of inter-operability between different software. According to Mr Lueder, the solutions suggested by the Commission would have a positive impact on the market, as well as in terms of competition and provision for consumers.