[Am-info] EU ruling on Microsoft antitrust case takes shape

[Gene Gaines]

From:  http://www.computerworld.com/governmenttopics/government/legalissues/story/0,10801,79323,00.html?nas=AM-79323

EU ruling on Microsoft antitrust case takes shape

By Paul Meller, IDG News Service
MARCH 13, 2003

BRUSSELS -- The shape of a ruling in the five-year-long European
Union antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. emerged this week in
a leak from an internal panel reviewing the handling of the case.

A source close to the European Commission's competition department
said yesterday that a report by Reuters on Tuesday that Microsoft
would be found guilty of violating antitrust laws was "along the
right lines." The source insisted on remaining anonymous.

As in the U.S. case, the difficult part is what to do about it.
This is where the case handlers and the so-called devil's advocate
panel, a group of knowledgeable officials from within the
commission's competition department, don't yet agree, according to
Reuters.

Case handlers want to require Microsoft to unbundle Media Player,
an audio/video software program sold in its Windows packages. They
also want the company to disclose more proprietary information
about Windows to its rivals. The information is needed to ensure
seamless interaction between, for instance, a PC running Windows
and a server running Sun Microsystems Inc. server software.

The panel of devil's advocates is understood to be urging the case
team to tighten up the wording of their ruling because they are
worried about it from both a legal and a technical standpoint.

This panel was established recently to avert additional
humiliating defeats in the European Court of Justice. Three
important merger rulings by the EU were overturned by the court
last year. The judges in each case highlighted sloppy economic
analysis and procedural errors in commission rulings.

Now that the European Commission is approaching the final leg in
the biggest antitrust case the EU has ever handled, it isn't
surprising that the devil's advocate panel should scrutinize the
case closely, the source said.

The only element missing is the fine Microsoft will face. But that
won't be decided until just before the final commission vote to
adopt the ruling, which is expected in June or July. In theory, it
could total 10% of Microsoft's annual global sales.

The commission has never come near to fining that much, the source
said, adding, "but then, it has never come near to such a colossal
antitrust case."

The commission declined to comment on the upcoming ruling.


Gene Gaines
gene.gaines@gainesgroup.com
Sterling, Virginia