Competition: Microsoft Settlement Possibility

I am grateful to ZDNet for this tidbit of information. According to the report Microsoft has offered to license some of its Windows Server source code to rivals in response to a statement of objections served by the Commission at the end of last year. The nub of the objection is that Microsoft has not complied with the Commission's order of 24 March 2004 to disclose to competitors within 120 days, the interfaces required for their competing products to be able to operate on Windows. Unless the order is annulled by the Court of First Instance or a settlement is reached with the Commission, Microsoft faces the prospect of a daily fine. Incidentally, a daily fine ("astreinte") is the sanction by which injunctions are enforced in civil law jurisdictions.

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