Microsoft hits European antitrust deadline

With the delivery of over 8,500 pages of legal documentation to the European Commission in Brussels, Microsoft is hoping that it is close to finally settling one of the most drawn out and expensive battles in European legal battles.

The software giant hopes the documents, filed on Wednesday, will be the final proof that it has complied with the Commission’s antitrust ruling of 2004.

Now, Microsoft must wait as the Commission’s trustees, led by UK computer expert Professor Neil Barrett, analyse the documents and perform final testing of the software solutions being proposed, to ensure Microsoft is sticking to a requirement to provide a level playing field for other software vendors.

At the end of the process, Microsoft will have passed or failed the test. A pass will allow the company to carry on trading normally within the European Union. A fail will see the company being forced to pay ?¢‚Äö¬¨3m a day in fines ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù backdated to July 31 2006 ?¢‚Ǩ‚Äù if it wished to continue trading in the EU.

Full article: ZDNet UK