Microsoft sues European Commission over sanctions and fines

Microsoft sues European Commission over sanctions and fines

World’s largest software company Microsoft is taking on the European Commission and have filed a lawsuit against the federation. The case was filed in a European Union court and it just is the latest twist in the long story of conflicts between the two parties involved in the antitrust case against Microsoft. A Microsoft spokesperson told the media: “Microsoft has filed an application for annulment with the Court of First Instance specifically concerning the issue of broad licenses for the source code of communications protocols.”

The problems this time are related to server software, which runs printing, filing and security tasks for small offices and groups. The European Commission had imposed sanctions against Software Company and levied a record fine of € 497 million. The case was related to the Microsoft’s bundling of their Windows Media Player application with the Windows Operating System.

The company has already challenged that decision and the case is still going on between the two parties. Microsoft also failed to get the sanctions and fines waived off from the courts. They had until June 1, 2005 to comply with the rulings but the decision was latest delayed to give the company more time to handle the complications from the rulings.

Microsoft representative said in a statement about the ruling: “This filing is the result of the agreement reached with the Commission in June to put this particular issue to the court for guidance and to avoid any further delay in the process. We are taking this step so the court can begin its review of this issue now, given its far-reaching implications for the protection of our intellectual property rights around the world.”