EU threatens news fines against Microsoft

US software giant Microsoft was threatened with new fines by the European Union today, after it was accused of failing to live up to legal promises.

Microsoft had promised to provide competitors with updated, complete and reasonably-priced information on work group servers following a 2004 anti-trust ruling.

“The Commission’s current view is that there is no significant innovation,” Antitrust Commissioner Neelie Kroes said in Brussels.

Under a landmark 2004 antitrust ruling by the European Union, Microsoft had to disclose complete and accurate interface documentation on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, allowing its competitors to interoperate with Windows PCs and servers.

Under a so-called “statement of objections” released today, the EU’s executive Commission said there was “no significant innovation” in the requested information. It also rejected 1,500 pages of submissions by Microsoft over the past three months and said Microsoft’s price proposals were unreasonable.

“I am therefore again obliged to take formal measures to ensure that Microsoft complies with its obligations,” Ms Kroes said in a statement.

Work group servers are designed to let numerous users share and exchange information on projects so that groups of workers located near or far from their offices can collaborate on joint projects.

Microsoft is challenging the EU’s original 2004 antitrust order at the EU’s Court of First Instance. The 2004 antitrust order found the company broke competition law for abuse of a dominant position and fined the software maker a record €497m.

To remedy Microsoft’s antitrust abuse, the EU ordered the company to sell a copy of Windows without its media player software and told it to share communications code and information with rivals to help them develop server software that worked smoothly with Microsoft’s ubiquitous Windows desktop operating system.

EU regulators fined Microsoft another €280.5m last July for failing to supply the “complete and accurate” interoperability required.