Microsoft facing record €498m EU fine

Microsoft accused the EU today of going too far in seeking a record fine of about €498m against it for alleged antitrust abuses, saying it was being penalised for behaviour permitted in the United States.

The Seattle based software giant’s chief European lawyer, Horacio Gutierrez, said the level appeared to have been doubled from what it would have been under the European Commission’s own guidelines to account for the company’s global operations.