Microsoft: competition penalties upheld 

The CFI rejected Microsoft’s application for the Commission’s sanctions to be suspended until the final hearing of their appeal against the decision. In an interim decision, Bo Vesterdorf, President of the CFI, held that Microsoft had not shown that the Commission’s remedies would cause the company "serious and irreparable harm". 

Microsoft must now disclose "interoperability information" to its competitors, so allowing them to develop products which are able to function with Windows and which rival Microsoft’s own products. The company will also have to put on the market an "unbundled" version of Windows, i.e. one which does not include Microsoft Media player.

These are the two measures Microsoft was ordered to take to remedy the anti-competitive practices found to be in breach of EU antitrust law. The Commission had agreed to suspend  the sanctions pending the interim ruling (see EurActiv 28 June 2004). Microsoft has already paid a fine of € 497 million imposed by the same Commission decision.

Commission spokesperson Jonathan Todd, welcomed the Court’s decision saying that it "preserved the effectiveness of anti-trust enforcement" which was particularly important in fast-moving markets such as computer technology.

In a   statement , Microsoft has said that it found some of the aspects of the Court's Order encouraging and that it is "hopeful that the issues highlighted by the Court will create an opportunity for the parties to discuss settlement".

Microsoft’s appeal to annul the Commission’s decision is still underway but is not likely to be decided for some time. It is also open to Microsoft to appeal this interim ruling to the President of the European Court of Justice.