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Mario Monti Fines Microsoft 100 Million?
n3k5 writes "EU competition commissioner Mario Monti has been in the news a lot lately, following "[...] a preliminary decision that Microsoft is breaking European law by abusing its dominant position in the personal computers' market. However, [the Commission] needs to carry out a series of consultations before finalising its verdict, due by May 1." (Financial Times article) The latest articles all cite German magazine FOCUS, which reports in its current issue that, according to "informed" EU sources, the Commission is considering imposing a record fine of EUR 100,000,000 (USD 123,840,000) on Microsoft. "Amelia Torries, a spokeswoman for Monti, dismissed the report as 'pure and utter speculation.'" (Channel NewsAsia article)"
if they add another ,000 that would be really nice :-)
If they would do this to an European software company like SAP or Nokia.
And one might also speculate if there is any connections to the latest steel and Galileo-related trade wars.
Owner of a Mensa membership card.
First of all, I never said anything about fantasies.
Second of all, 100 Mil, though as you say only 0.2% of their cash reserves, is still a rediculous fine. Why should Microsoft pay the EU for existing. Monopoly laws are just a way for governments to control corporations. Do you really think other software companies are going to see a dime of that money?
Why is it that people always hear what I say, and not what I mean?
I don't know German, but it sure looks like it was once there then redirects to a generic page. Maybe Bill Gates slammed his cock down on the table and demanded it be taken off. Said one man "Sure was tiny, and a hell of a laugh, but we all decided we should take it off anyway. You'd think with all that money he could afford to be circumsized".
In the case of the EU spend it on more subsidies for French farmers.
The report is wrong, IBM was fined $1.5 billion in the 1980s for anti-trust abuses, so the Microsoft fine would not be a record.
Its a pretty pathetic lawsuit, O/S have shiped with standard video and audio players since the hardware came with the machine. The O/S job is to provide a way to make this stuff work.
Real is a real shitty piece of code that wrecks your machine almost as baddly as comet cursor. Its the same game of trying to lock the market into one proprietary format. What the EU should do is order Microsoft to ship a player that plays an open, unencumbered format.
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Try http://dotcrimeManifesto.com/
But doesn't the US typically call 100,000,000 a billion in which case this penalty could be higher or almost as high when you take the exchange rate into account ?