Microsoft must pay record EUR 497 mln fine

The court's decision is final, but it has several aspects that could be contested in front of the High Court of the European Union. In 2004 the court ruled against the software giant, ordering it to pay a EUR 497 million fine, the biggest penalty ever imposed by the EU authorities against a company. Microsoft also had to pay for the majority of the court costs and another EUR 280 million fine was given to Microsoft for disregarding the court's decision in 2004.
The court's decision is extremely important for the authorities regulating the antitrust field, as the European Commission has to rule on other antitrust abuse cases involving companies such as Intel, Qualcomm and Rambus.

Roxana Mihul