今日與明日

June 27, 2006
Europe Said to Plan to Fine Microsoft $2.5 Million a Day
By DAN BILEFSKY
BRUSSELS, June 26 — European Commission authorities plan to recommend that Microsoft pay up to two million euros ($2.5 million) for every day it has failed to disclose information about its operating system to competitors, people with direct knowledge of the commission's plans said Monday.

Microsoft was required to provide information to its rivals on the inner workings of its Windows operating system under a March 2004 ruling by the commission. An advisory committee is expected to meet Monday to discuss a draft decision to impose a fine, and on July 10 to decide on a final fine, said people with knowledge of the case who said they had to speak anonymously because the plans were still pending.

Two million euros a day would be the biggest daily antitrust fine set by the commission. At the time of the ruling, the commission imposed a flat 497.2 million euro ($622 million) antitrust fine on Microsoft.

The commission has said any daily fine will be retroactive to Dec. 15, when Neelie Kroes, the competition commissioner, first threatened Microsoft with daily penalties. The fine could continue indefinitely until the commission determined that Microsoft had complied.

Microsoft has long insisted that it was complying with the European order. Brad Smith, the company's chief counsel, said in March that Microsoft had already made public "complete and accurate" data on Windows, including more than 12,000 pages of technical information.

On Monday, Horacio E. Gutiérrez, associate general counsel of Microsoft in Europe, said the company had "already delivered five of seven installments of technical documentation developed to the agreed specification and according to the agreed work plan." He said the next two installments would be submitted Friday and on July 18.

歐盟委員會正擬定對微軟最高日反壟斷罰款200萬歐元計畫
　　(Europe Said to Plan to Fine Microsoft $2.5 Million a Day)
　　據直接參與制定方案的知情人士稱，歐盟委員會(European Commission)當局計畫建議，因微軟公司(Microsoft)未能向競爭對手披露足夠多的作業系統資訊，公司應該每天向歐盟機構繳納200萬歐元(250萬美元)的罰款。
　　據要求匿名的知情人士稱，歐盟委員會根據2004年3月做出裁決，要求微軟向其競爭對手提供視窗作業系統內部的工作方式。預計一個顧問委員會週一將會面商討實施這項罰款的草案決策，並於7月10日確定最終罰款。
　　每日罰款200萬歐元是歐盟委員會設定的每日最高反壟斷罰款。在裁定微軟壟斷經營後，歐盟委員會曾執行了4.972億歐元(6.22億美元)反壟斷罰款。