The European Union fined Microsoft Corp 561 million euros ($731 million) on Wednesday for failing to offer users a choice of web browser, an unprecedented sanction that will act as a warning to other firms involved in EU antitrust disputes.
EU fines Microsoft $731 million for broken promise, warns others The European Union fined Microsoft Corp 561 million euros ($731 million) on Wednesday for failing to offer users a choice of web browser, an unprecedented sanction that will act as a warning to other firms involved in EU antitrust disputes. It said the U.S. software company had broken a legally binding commitment made in 2009 to ensure that consumers had a choice of how they access the internet, rather than defaulting to Microsoft’s Explorer browser. An investigation found that Microsoft had failed to honor that obligation in software issued between May 2011 and July 2012, meaning 15 million users were not given a choice. It is the first time the European Commission, the EU’s anti-trust authority, has handed down a fine to a company for failing to meet its obligations. While the sanction is sizeable, representing 1 percent of Microsoft’s 2012 fiscal-year revenues, the Commission could have charged the compan...