European antitrust chief is no shrinking violet

Tough-as-nails Neelie Kroes, the European Union's head antitrust cop, issued a stern warning to any company planning to blow off the regulatory agency and European antitrust laws.

Neelie Kroes

(Credit: European Community)

"If you flee the rules, you will be caught. And it will cost you dearly," warned Kroes during in press conference Wednesday, following the European Commission's announcement it was slapping a $1.35 billion fine on Microsoft for failure to comply with earlier March 2004 antitrust sanctions.

Kroes further noted: "Talk is cheap. Flee the rules and it will be expensive. We don't want talk and promises. We want compliance (with regulations)."

For Microsoft, its fine was calculated based on the 488 days it was out of compliance, Kroes said. And while Kroes characterized the fine as "substantial," she noted it represented 60 percent of the total assessment the Commission could have levied on Microsoft.

Meanwhile, readers who participated in a News.com poll were roughly split 60-40 on whether the Commission's fine was too low, or too high, respectively.

Kroes, however, maintained the size of the fine was reasonable, given the length of time that Microsoft was out of compliance with the historic March 2004 order and number of people, companies and government agencies affected.

"Microsoft continued to stifle innovation by charging other companies prohibitive royalty rates for the essential information they needed to offer software products to computer users around the world," Kroes said. "The high rates made the rendering of (interoperability) information pointless."

To comply with the March 2004 order, Microsoft was supposed to offer rivals complete and accurate interoperability information so that their products would work with Microsoft's dominant operating system, as well as offer the information at a reasonable price.

Any company looking to avoid a clash with Kroes needs to keep one thing in mind. Says the woman herself: "Our approach is to ensure companies and people have a right to choose...then the markets will deliver so much more."

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EU antitrust chief on Microsoft
Neelie Kroes describes Microsoft's pricing structure as 'unreasonable.'
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Antitrust chief talks tough
Kroes discusses the European Commission's approach to illegal behavior.
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[Leria]

The only thing the computer market delivers

with more choice, is more crap to pass off on customers as good hardware.<br /><br />What this lady really needs to do is bust up her own agency, and start monitoring the computer industry for 'best practices', meaning that they don't just slap together a new item in 5 minutes and toss it out the door, knowing it won't last even a year.<br /><br />The European regulatory body is doing absolutely nothing other than fining Microsoft for being successful, and I am not a Microsoft fanboy in the slightest (or at least I wasn't before Vista).<br />I have some big problems with the way Microsoft does things, but let's be honest here: they had already complied with all the demands of the regulatory body not 3 months after they started fining them..... the regulatory body kept on asking for things that fell under the scope of 'company secrets' and shouldn't have been let out of the company at all.

[Spartan_458]

Yeah

It's just another instance of a government sticking its nose in everyone's business and in places it shouldn't be. Not to mention that the EU are a bunch of maggots anyway.

[ajhoughton]

The fine isn't for "being successful"

The fine is for intentionally behaving in an anti-competitive <br />manner and then for ignoring the regulator. There's a big <br />difference. Microsoft has long been abusing its market position <br />to stifle competition in markets in which it competes.<br /><br />When a competition regulator tells you to do something, as a <br />company, you'd better do it because the regulator is generally <br />able to levy fines at otherwise insane levels (in the E.U., up to <br />10% of turnover), to protect the operation of the market. That <br />Microsoft got itself fined is down to the stupidity of the people <br />in charge of this issue at Microsoft's end.

[Commander_Spock]

Microsoft was wrong in the first place...

... to entertain the EU with their nonsense - they should have told the EU from the inception to go to hell and pulled out from the EU market and leave them to develop their own products (while moving their operation to either Brazil or Canada). One has got to understand and appreciate why European IT jobs went to the Indian Sub-Continent faster that one can press the "DELETE KEY" on the Computer Keyboard.

[mybs2000]

ANTI-FREE-TRADE CHIEF

How much gain an Olympic runner has to gain before he will be punished and artificially slowed down? <br /><br />It is ridiculous to punish a lawful competitor in the free trade system with the Anti-trust law. This reminds me of dictatorships I grew up in. If the company gained power in legal ways then it has the right to use that power for further growth. If it gets too carried away, the market will adjust itself. The monopoly will alienate him from the users, will slow down, there will be an alliance of emerging technologies, or something will punish him. Just let the market work itself.<br /><br />Furthermore I don't know where Neelie spends her money, but I really doubt she does it as generously and as effectively as Bil Gates does. So the money might be better where it was made with hard work and sweat!

[ajhoughton]

Only they weren't a "lawful competitor"

Microsoft was using its market position to suppress competition <br />in a number of markets. It's been doing this for ages, which is <br />why most of the remaining competition comes from the Open <br />Source movement.<br /><br />Anti-competitive practices are illegal in the E.U., illegal in the <br />U.S. and illegal in any other sane capitalist economy also. Why? <br />Because they mean that *YOU*, the consumer, must pay more <br />for products and services than you would otherwise have to.<br /><br />Microsoft was told repeatedly to curb its behaviour. It deserves <br />all it gets.

[t8]

Naughty Microsoft

Steve Balmer and Bill Gates you two should be ashamed of yourselves. Now you have to pay 1.5 billion. Se what happens when you misbehave?<br /><br />And Bill I am not falling for that I am a charity man, we all know it is a tax dodge and you are just a very naughty boy who tells lies and steals other people stuff.<br /><br />I have a good mind to tell your mommy what you have been doing.<br /><br />Tut tut.

[Commander_Spock]

The EU is going to the "dogs"

Ask Venezuela's Pres. Chavez who has now jointed with other Latin American leaders to establish a development bank in South American, it name is ALBA. The EU will return to the "Ice-Age" when the Arab "oil" runs out and "1.5 billion" X 10 may not be of much help to people who are not willing to use their own talents and labor.