Slashdot Mirror
EU Prepared to Fine Microsoft $2.5 Million Per Day
Lord_Slepnir writes "The European Union is unsatisfied with Microsoft's compliance with their anti-trust compliance from 2004, and is preparing to fine them 2 million Euros ($2.5m US) per day until they comply. Under that ruling, Microsoft must open up parts of their operating system to competitors, and change how they bundle Media Player." From the article: "On Monday, Microsoft said it had begun to provide the information Brussels had demanded, but the Commission has signaled the company acted too late. In December, Brussels informed the software giant that it had failed to comply with the original ruling it issued in March 2004."
Poor, poor Microsoft.
How will they come up with enough change out of Bill Gates' couch to pay that daily?
They might have to pull directly from the company coffee fund!
at that rate, they can only hold out for 33 years!!
Thank you for fining us. Enclosed you find our offer about Windows Vista special EU edition, the ONLY edition the EU parlament and its associated organs may use. A license costs 2*10^6 USD a day.
Or, could we talk that fine thing over, maybe?
(it's fun to have a monopoly, ain't it?)
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
European Commission , not Government.
However; I'm right with you on that one. Though it'll most likely be spent on subsidies for Swiss and Luxembourg fishing fleets.
ZOMGWTFPWNtKKTHNXBIBI!!!ONE!111!!!
If you wouldn't miss 20+% of your annual income, please forward your Q4 paychecks to my bank account. Thanks.
120 characters for a sig? That's bloody useless.
Get my wallet!
Microsoft has had to issue numerous press releases saying they can't figure out what the EU wants them to do, and that the EU is just punishing them for making such a great operating system. They've had to pay for numerous "independent" studies to prove that showing several million lines of unreadable source code is the same as documenting an API. Haven't they suffered enough?!?!
My turnips listen for the soft cry of your love
Thank for your recent letter. Regretfully, we must decline your offer of your special edition software and its license.
Apparently you are not aware of our country's recent legislation addressing software license rules. In order for a software company to legally sell ANY software in our country, it will now be required to provide, free of charge, a number of fully licensed copies of said software to the government, that number to be determined by the government and revised at the government's discretion.
(Having a monopoly sure sounds like fun. But writing your own laws is even more fun, we think!)
/* "Specialization is for insects." -Heinlein */
Wow, MS pull out of half the world market? What have you been drinking? However, the fines are unlikely to start before Duke Vista Forever ships.
Oh well, what the hell...
You really shouldn't get all your information about this topic from Microsoft's P.R.-departement.
The european commission should have a draw every week to pick the fiscal number of a lucky european who would be entitled to keep 1 day of Microsoft fines.
In other words: It is the huge twisted tree of corrupt beaurocrats that keeps the EU honest?
:)
What a lovely irony if true