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Microsoft Must Comply or Face Fine BRUSSELS, May 23 - Microsoft has until the middle of next week to comply with the European Commission's antitrust ruling, or face daily fines of up to $5 million, Europe's competition monitor said Monday. The European Commission ruled in March 2004 that Microsoft had abused its dominant position in the European software market. The company paid a 497 million euro fine last summer, but it has not acted on two orders to change its business practices. "They have until the end of the month to satisfy us," said Jonathan Todd, spokesman for Europe's competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes. She expects Microsoft to make a "final offer" on all aspects of last year's ruling, he added. Tom Brookes, a spokesman for Microsoft, said the company was trying to address the commission's concerns. "We are aware of the commission's time frame and we continue to work towards full compliance," he said in Brussels. The company has submitted proposals in the last year to address the antitrust ruling, but they have fallen far short of what the commission is seeking. The commission ordered that Microsoft make room for rival programs by offering a second version of its Windows operating system without the Media Player program. It also instructed Microsoft to license secret information inside Windows to rivals to allow them to produce server software that works with Windows, which operates more than 95 percent of personal computers around the world. If Microsoft's final offer fails to satisfy the regulator, or if the company misses the June 1 deadline, the commission will write a formal letter to the company, outlining its concerns. Microsoft would then be given the opportunity to respond, either in writing or in a hearing before the commission. The final decision to impose fines would then be taken by Ms. Kroes and her 24 fellow commissioners. The process could take around two weeks and the fine is calculated based on roughly 5 percent of Microsoft's global daily sales. The deadline for compliance was set in late April during a meeting between Ms. Kroes and Steven A. Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, but was kept secret until now. Microsoft appealed last year's antitrust ruling at the European Court of First Instance, Europe's second-highest court, in Luxembourg, and asked the court to suspend the remedies called for in the ruling until after the appeal. That request was turned down in December. The appeal is still going forward. Since then, Microsoft has been in almost daily contact with the commission on how to comply with those remedies. Each side has accused the other of slowing the process. At the meeting last month, she told Mr. Ballmer that Microsoft must comply with the ruling "urgently and in full."
http://www.nytimes.com
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