Word: microsoft
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...Microsoft has frequently found itself under scrutiny by regulators over the years, but the software giant has rarely felt more out of step with authority than on Monday, when a European court threw out its appeal against a 2004 antitrust decision...
...ruling comes three and a half years after the European Commission - the E.U.'s antitrust authority - ruled that Microsoft had unfairly abused the near-monopoly power of its Windows personal computer operating system to muscle out rivals...
...European Union's Court of First Instance in Luxembourg - Europe's second-highest court - has now upheld the Commission's March 2004 decision that fined Microsoft a record $670 million and ordered the software giant to change its Windows package to make it more modular and compatible with rival systems...
...crushing blow to Microsoft, which has engaged in a bitter nine-year wrangle with the Commission. But the ruling also confirms the role of the Commission, which had staked its reputation as an antitrust regulator on the case. A defeat would have undermined its authority and risked a flood of court appeals against every Commission decision...
...decision was also welcomed by Microsoft's rivals. Thomas Vinje, the lawyer for the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), a group of technology companies that includes IBM, Nokia, Oracle and Sun Microsystems, said, "This is a great day for European businesses and consumers." He added: "At long last, the decision opens the prospect for dynamic competition in the software industry. No more user lock-in, no more monopoly pricing." He said the ruling was a landmark that set standard for Microsoft's future conduct - and empowered the Commission to impose it on the European market if necessary...