Yesterday (July 10), the European Commission’s competition authority convened to discuss the penalties that will be imposed on Microsoft.
Microsoft may face a fine of up to $2.6 million per day due to allegations of failing to fully comply with the rulings from the 2004 antitrust case. This fine is viewed by the European Commission (EC) as a form of “compensation” for actions taken to exploit Microsoft’s dominant market position to suppress competitors?
The meeting was attended by representatives from the competition authorities of all 25 EU member countries.
If this penalty is imposed, Microsoft could be required to pay a fine totaling millions of dollars, surpassing the record fine of over $600 million that the EC previously imposed after the company lost the antitrust case in 2004.
The EC has made significant efforts to ensure Microsoft fully complies with the 2004 rulings, but it seems the commission has lost patience after giving Microsoft more than two years to implement those decisions. It can be said that the EC has exhausted all legal measures to compel Microsoft to comply, yet all attempts have been unsuccessful.
Reports suggest that the EC is prepared to impose the maximum penalty on Microsoft if the company remains resolute in its noncompliance with the commission’s rulings.
According to this, the EC may establish a penalty of up to 5% of Microsoft’s total daily revenue from the year 2005. Microsoft’s revenue in 2005 was $40 billion, which translates to an average of $110 million earned daily. If the penalty is 5%, this would amount to a fine of approximately $5.5 million per day.
Furthermore, the daily fine allows the EC to calculate retroactively, starting from the time the penalty decision is made back to when the competition authorities of member countries agreed with the European Commission’s ruling.
Reports indicate that the EC will officially decide on all matters related to Microsoft this Wednesday.
Hoàng Dũng
