EU “Working On” New Microsoft Antitrust Charge

The European Competition Commissioner has told Reuters that the EU is preparing a new Microsoft antitrust complaint.

The charge relates to Microsoft’s failure to adhere to a 2009 ruling ordering it to offer Windows users a choice of browsers. However the EU has since discovered that this choice has not been offered to around 28 million PCs running Windows 7 Service Pack 1 since February 2011.

Microsoft Antitrust Investigation

Microsoft says it has only been aware of the problem since July and has blamed it on a technical glitch, but this defence appears unlikely to get it out of trouble. Joaquin Almunia confirmed reports that a new case was being prepared and said that it should not be a long investigation as Microsoft has already “explicitly recognised its breach of the agreement.”

The Redmond-based company told regulators as recently as December that it was adhering to the ruling, but has since offered to extend its agreement to 2014 as a sign of its commitment.

The settlement agreed in 2009 allowed Microsoft to avoid a fine, but if found guilty of this latest charge, it could face a fine of up to ten percent of its global turnover. Any fine could take into account repeat offences as the company has been fined more than €1 billion for breaking EU rules in the last decade.

Almunia also warned Google that it must do more to ease the EC’s concerns if it is to avoid a “lengthy” legal process. The two sides have been in regular contact to avoid an investigation into Google’s search practices.

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