News and Analysis Results
Microsoft vs European Commission: the verdict
Microsoft has lost its appeal against European Commission charges of anti-competitive behaviour. Bo Vesterdorf the softly spoken retiring judge of the Court of First Instance led the judges into the Luxembourg courtroom and invited everyone to sit. He quickly and quietly delivered the verdict, stood and led the judges out again …
Microsoft awaits European Court decision
The European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg will rule on Monday whether the guilty verdict against Microsoft should be overturned. The software giant was found guilty of anti-competitive practices in 2004. The Court ruled Microsoft was in breach of article 82 of the EC Treaty for abusing its dominant position in the PC …
Luxembourg cabbies back Billg
No company creates conspiracy theories like Microsoft - or maybe that should be Microsoft observers. Sharing facilities with a Microsoft backed blogger is no great hardship, but what if the software giant is recruiting local taxi drivers to deliver its marketing message? Microsoft PRs at the court have been restrained and …
MS vs. EC: Why the fine is unfair and the trustee appointment is wrong
On a sunny afternoon in Luxembourg we enter the final lap of this five day case - discussion on the size of the €500m fine and other impositions of the remedy. None of the legal teams had produced a child during the break, so Mr Bellis got straight into attacking the commission imposition of a trustee. Bellis said the …
Judge Cooke questions EC settlement
The Court of First Instance reconvened after lunch for more grilling of both parties by Judge John D Cooke. Samba's Dr Andrew Tridgell was first in the firing line. He was questioned on protocols, algorithms and how they relate to patents. Tridgell explained that algorithms usually depend on the programming environment - so …
Judge Cooke turns up the heat on Commission
The morning Q & A session was led by Judge John D Cooke - the judge-rapporteur who will compile the Court’s final decision. He began by questioning how far the Commission wishes to remove interoperability from the competition equation. Mr Whelan, for the Commission, said that interoperability was only the start of a process of …
Samba speaks as commission interveners cut in
The Court of First Instance reconvened this morning to hear from the European Commission's interveners - witnesses and experts who support its case. But first we had some welcome light relief - commission barrister Mr Whelan apologised for the absence of his colleague Per Hellstrom who became a father at 5am this morning. Court …
Commission rejects MS server claims and demo
The Court of First Instance reconvened this afternoon to hear the commission’s defence of its anti-trust decision imposed on Microsoft in 2004. The commission’s barrister Mr Whelan, in a blistering performance, told the court the two sides agreed on one thing - that the hearings of the last two days on Media Player had …
Microsoft talks up interoperability
Microsoft took the stand today to try and overturn the European Competition Commission’s decision to force it to improve server interoperability. The commission case looked at three aspects - file, print, and user directory functions. Microsoft QC Mr Forrester told the court there were clear parallels between the previous two …
When is an application not an application?
After the first day with Court judges strangely silent, it was a relief to finally hear them speak and see them move. The only light relief yesterday was watching the glamorous Spanish interpreters who looked like they were commentating on a football match while fighting off a swarm of bees. We heard first from Irish judge John …
Media Player summed up
The second day of Microsoft's attempt to overturn the European Commission remedies heard a summing up of both sides on the tying of Windows Media Player - tomorrow we move onto interoperability. Mr. Bellis, Microsoft's advocate, began by reiterating Microsoft's belief that its Media Player is not a separate product to its …
How many copies of XP without media player have you seen?
The first day of "l'affaire Microsoft" started with comedy when the audience stood up with the entry of assorted wigged and gowned figures. An usher told us, with some disgust, to sit because it was "only the lawyers". The panel of fourteen judges* entered next, wig-free but wearing dark robes and strange white cravats that …
Microsoft, EC take positions
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. …
Microsoft loses battle for court docs
The district court of Massachusetts has rejected Microsoft's attempt to get hold of documents which rival firm Novell gave to the European Commission. Microsoft tried to subpoena Novell to get documents to bolster its appeal against the European Commission's antitrust case. The EC ruled back in 2004 that Microsoft was guilty of …
EC suspends Microsoft sanctions
The European Commission has suspended sanctions against Microsoft. The software giant should have started offering a version of Windows without its media player from today. The EC ruled in March that Microsoft had abused its monopoly position and levied a fine of €497m and ordered the company to offer a media player-free version …
Microsoft confirms EC appeal
Microsoft has confirmed that it is taking the EC back to court to appeal against the €497m fine imposed on the company. It also wants to overturn the EC competition ruling that it must offer a version of Windows without its Media Player and supplies competitors with more information about the internal workings of Windows. …
US gov questions EC MS ruling
The US government has again questioned the way the EC chose to punish Microsoft for anti-competitive practices. Hew Pate, US assistant attorney-general for anti-trust, said: "it is extremely difficult to tell the difference between good, hard competition and anti-competitive conduct." Pate said this difficulty is one reason why …
Microsoft appeals record-breaking fine
Microsoft will this week appeal the anti-trust decision, and record breaking fine, imposed on the company by Mario Monti and his Competition Commission G-men. Microsoft will file in the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg this week. It says the ruling would hamper its ability to innovate. Back in March the Competition …
Microsoft hopes Sun deal will dazzle EC
Microsoft is hoping its deal with Sun will lead to a wider outbreak of peace. Last week's settlement of its long running legal action with Sun will help Microsoft overturn the judgement from the European Commission, according to senior Microsoft executives quoted in the Financial Times. The Commission imposed a $603m fine on …
MCI appeals ancient EC decision
MCI, the telco formerly known as WorldCom, is appealing a decision by the European Commission which stopped it acquiring Sprint in 2000. MCI is taking the case to court in Luxembourg, according to Forbes. A panel of three judges will decide on the legality of the case. Mario Monti held a press conference to announce his …
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