The European Commission is poised to fine Microsoft again, after antitrust regulators from the 25 countries in the European Union gave unanimous support Monday to the Commission's plan to punish the company for failing to comply with its 2004 antitrust ruling, according to sources following the case.
Andrew Tridgell, creator of the Samba server software used by free and open-source software developers alike, made an important contribution to the European Commission's defense of its 2004 Microsoft antitrust ruling at the Court of First Instance last week.
The registry for the .eu top level domain (TLD) received 390,000 applications in the first 100 minutes after registration was opened to all residents of the European Union, E.U. Information Society and Media Commissioner Viviane Reding said Friday.
Microsoft left a two-day antitrust hearing in Brussels Friday claiming it had reached a breakthrough with European regulators in a dispute that may still result in the company being fined up to Euro 2 million (US$2.4 million) a day.
As it makes a final effort during two days of hearings to avert daily fines of up to US$2.4 million in its ongoing antitrust fight with the European Commission, Microsoft Corp. has received sympathy, if not support, from a powerful friend: The US government.
The European Commission has laid out specific antitrust concerns it has about Vista, Microsoft's long-awaited new operating system, Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said Wednesday.
Oracle's intended takeover of rival corporate software maker PeopleSoft was scrutinized by customers, competitors and PeopleSoft itself at a closed-door hearing in Brussels on Thursday, people close to the meeting said.
Oracle submitted its written response to the European Commission's objections to its planned takeover of PeopleSoft Monday, said lawyers close to the company.
Microsoft will be fined $US610 million (AUD$811.06m) by the European Commission tomorrow (Wednesday) for abusing its monopoly in computer operating systems, according to a person close to the company.
Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer is discussing the European antitrust case against the company with Mario Monti, the European competition commissioner in Brussels, a person close to the talks said Tuesday afternoon.
Antitrust regulators from the 15 European Union (EU) countries have unanimously backed the European Commission's negative ruling against Microsoft, a Commission spokeswoman said Monday.
The European Commission confirmed Monday that it has sent a statement of objections to software maker Oracle, detailing reasons why its planned takeover of rival PeopleSoft will harm competition in the European Union (EU).
Governments around the world were urged to cooperate more in their fight against the proliferation of spam, or unsolicited e-mail, at a conference Monday organized by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).
The European Commission has paused its probe of Oracle's hostile, multibillion bid to buy rival Peoplesoft, in order to gather more information about the notified takeover.
The European Parliament voted in favor of a law that goes some way towards limiting the scope for patents on software programs Wednesday.