Author Topic: MS Slapped with $357 Million Fine (Read 774 times)

GhostShip · « **on:** July 13, 2006, 08:08:14 am »

I think they are starting to get the message that trying to play the EU regulators for chumps was not a clever idea.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/5171126.stm

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Microsoft has been fined 280.5m euros ($357m; £194m) by the European Commission for failing to comply with an anti-competition ruling.
The software giant will appeal against the fine which follows a long-running dispute between it and EU regulators.

The move follows a landmark EU ruling in 2004, which ordered the US firm to provide rivals with information about its Windows operating system.

UU regulators also warned Microsoft it could face new fines of 3m euros a day.
The daily fines will come into force from 31 July if Microsoft fails to supply "complete and accurate" technical information to rival developers, the EU said.

Under the 2004 ruling, Microsoft was told to provide rival firms with more information about its software, in order to enable them to write programs that could run more smoothly on Microsoft's widely-used Windows operating system.

Their stall tactic has backfired on them it seems, months ago the EU regulators where told Microsoft had been generating lots of useless paper, supposedly documenting their operating system in an attempt to pretend compliance with the ruling, pity those darned Europeans are just not stupid enough huh Bill

..Ñøßß¥.. · « **Reply #1 on:** July 13, 2006, 09:21:01 am »

There is only 1 draw back here:

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Bill's estimated worth is $48 billion. That's a 48 and a whole bunch of zeros. On average, Bill earns $120 per second, $7,200 per minute, $432,000 per hour, $10,368,000 per day, $72,576,000 per week, $3.7 billion per year.

Somehow i doubt $357 mill is much of a punishment, you can see his earnings, and i doubt that takes into account the interest on $48 billion? lol