Microsoft to pay 497 Million Euro, decided by the EU commission

[Stike]

I just saw it on German News TV as late breaking news:
The EU commission which had to set the punishment for Microsoft in the case of misuse of a monopolistic position decided that MS has to pay the record sum of 497 Million Euro.

My personal comment on that: Bleed, MS, I hope it hurts

I will try to add a link to the story ASAP.

Edit: More details on the TV newsreel: Reuter is reporting this, they refer to sources from inside the EU. The decision is to be made official on Wednesday. The fee could become even higher by Wednesday, it says.

 

[Interiority]

CNet have the story here...

http://news.com.com/2100-1014-5177278.html?tag=nl

 

[Billicus]

I just saw it on German News TV as late breaking news:
The EU commission which had to set the punishment for Microsoft in the case of misuse of a monopolistic position decided that MS has to pay the record sum of 497 Million Euro.

My personal comment on that: Bleed, MS, I hope it hurts

I will try to add a link to the story ASAP.

Edit: More details on the TV newsreel: Reuter is reporting this, they refer to sources from inside the EU. The decision is to be made official on Wednesday. The fee could become even higher by Wednesday, it says.

Ha! That's painful for Micro$oft, but they certainly can spare it...

 

[SpaceMagic]

That is ****, really. Sorry about my language but the corruption of governments is really ridiculous. It would hurt Microsoft a lot more if they had to to what they were told in the first place. 500 million euros is nothing for them. I cannot believe the EU - expect a letter of utter complaint!

 

[Makosuke]

Ooh, half a billion to get let off the hook. I suppose that since, theoretically, this settlement was mostly in relation to the media player, that's not entirely unreasonable, but for MS on the whole it's a drop in the bucket.

On the other hand, if the other remedies are followed through on--forced uncoupling of the OS from the media player, and forcing them to open up things to give rival servers more access to MS networks and systems--it'll make a bit more of a difference, at least to Europe. Beats being convicted and then rapidly watching absolutely nothing happen in the US.

I like Sun's idea, though--take away some IP. Why not? That's what they used to break the law in the first time, and how's that any different from taking cash?

 

[Naimfan]

Let's not lose sight of the fact that the fine is only a part of the remedy. The real pain for Microsoft will be in having to unbundle Media Player in Windows, and all that entails, especially in the future. There is a NY Times article that talks about this is only the beginning--other antitrust actions against Microsoft will now have precedent to build on should move a lot faster.

Best,

Bob