14 DAY TRIAL // The browser ballot screen that failed to show up on millions of Windows 7 computers between May 2011 and July 2012 is still haunting Microsoft and, after the European Commission handed down a $731 million (€526 million) fine to the company, Redmond is now again taken to the court by one of its shareholders.
Reuters is reporting that Kim Barovic filed a legal complaint at the federal court in Seattle, claiming that Microsoft’s board, including directors and executives, failed to correctly determine the cause of the issue that prevented the ballot screen from reaching Windows 7 computers and take again actions against those responsible for the fine. Both co-founder Bill Gates and former CEO Steve Ballmer are named in the complaint.
Back in 2009, the European Commission, EU’s antitrust body, required Microsoft to introduce a browser ballot screen in Windows 7 copies sold on the Old Continent in order to allow users who deploy the operating system to choose the browser they wish to use, other than Internet Explorer.
Although the software giant agreed with the requirement, it failed to implement such a choice screen in Windows 7, so between May 2011 and July 2012 15 million users weren’t allowed to choose their browser after installing Microsoft’s operating system. As a result, the EU issued a record fine, explaining that Microsoft had failed to meet its obligations.
Barovic has already explained that she asked the board to look into the case and determine the cause of the error, but the investigations came to no conclusion. A company representative told Reuters that Barovic has indeed discussed with the board on this case.
“Ms. Barovic asked the board to investigate her demand and bring a lawsuit against the board and company executives. The board thoroughly considered her demand as she requested and found no basis for such a suit,” a Microsoft spokesperson was quoted as saying.
Microsoft said in mid-July 2012 that the browser choice screen hadn’t reached Windows 7 computers sold in Europe due to a technical error, but didn’t provide any other specifics on what caused the issue.
“We have fallen short in our responsibility to do this. Due to a technical error, we missed delivering the BCS software to PCs that came with the service pack 1 update to Windows 7. While we have taken immediate steps to remedy this problem, we deeply regret that this error occurred and we apologize for it,” the company said in a statement at that time.