Microsoft Faces Eu Fine

Microsoft has until midnight tonight to comply with an EU anti-trust ruling on competitive practices or face fines of up to $5m (£2.7m) a day.

On March 24 2004 the European Commission announced that it was fining the US software giant a record €497m (£330m).

The then competition commissioner, Mario Monti, ruled that the company had breached anti-trust laws. He also demanded that the group offer a version of its Windows operating system without its MediaPlayer audio-visual system and share some of the secret protocols behind Windows with rival server manufacturers.

On June 7 2004, Microsoft filed an appeal against the decision with the European Union's Court of First Instance, based in Luxembourg. It ruled against the company's request for the fine and sanctions to be suspended, but a full appeal is to still to come.

In March this year, Microsoft said it was changing the name and specifications of its Windows without MediaPlayer, and that its interest and priority were in implementing the commission's instructions as quickly as possible. However, things have not happened quickly enough for the competition commission.

Speaking on May 23, competition commissioner, Neelie Kroes, said: "The deadline is the end of this month and if it's not met then it's the end of the game. We made a deal that before the end of the month we would reach an agreement. We are waiting for the Microsoft people to do their homework."

Ms Kroes said it was "premature" to say fines amounting to 5% of the group's daily turnover would be imposed immediately from June 1.

But her officials suggested that a decision to open procedures for fining the company for non-compliance could follow swiftly if there was no breakthrough.

Microsoft has said it is working hard to cooperate with the commission