New EU Fine and Other Legal News

The European Commission (EC), the administrative body that enforces fair competition laws for the European Union (EU), has fined Microsoft 280.5 million euros (US$357 million) for insufficiently documenting communications protocols used by Windows clients and servers. Further fines could follow if the EC continues to find Microsoft’s documentation inadequate. The EC also announced it is looking closely at possible antitrust violations in Windows Vista.

Separately, a U.S. judge dismissed an antitrust case filed by the founder of Go Computing, a company that sold pen-computing technology in the early 1990s. Microsoft also faces two new lawsuits alleging that its Windows Genuine Advantage feature is spyware (see “July 2006 Security Updates“).

Dispute over Documentation

The EC’s latest fine stems from its Apr. 2004 antitrust ruling against Microsoft. In that ruling, the EC fined the company 497 million euros (US$613 million), ordered it to release a version of Windows without the Windows Media Player to OEMs in Europe, and ordered it to document Windows communications protocols necessary for third-party software to interoperate with Windows clients. Microsoft appealed that ruling to the Court of First Instance, but a judge ordered that the company must comply while the appeal is pending.