14 DAY TRIAL // The next step in the Microsoft's European monopoly saga is expected to take place on September 17, 2007. The Redmond Company's long lasting confrontation with the European Union Antitrust Commission will receive a verdict in mid September. The information has not as yet been officially confirmed by the Court of First Instance, but the possibility of the September 17 date is supported as a dead-line by the imminent retirement of current President Bo Vesterdorf.
Microsoft has also been mute to the possibility of a September verdict. No officials from the Redmond Company have commented on the issue, but Microsoft's position is already clear and has been emphasized in the appeal. Back in 2004, the EU Antitrust Commission ruled that Microsoft violated antitrust legislation with its business practices. The company was ordered to pay no less than ?497 and to comply with a set of rules for the European market.
Consequently Microsoft stripped Windows Media Player from the Windows platform and produced the N edition. Windows XP and Windows Vista Home Basic and Business both have N editions and the variants of the operating system have miserably failed to appeal to European customers. Microsoft contested the court's decision from the start and appealed the ruling.
September 17, is synonymous with the moment when the Court of First Instance will deliver its verdict for Microsoft's appeal. However, the outcome does not look promising for the Redmond Company. Europe has been a tough legal territory and Microsoft also bled in 2006, when the Commission found that the company was not complying with the original antitrust ruling and imposed additional financial penalties of ?281 million. Jonathan Todd, a EU Antitrust Commission's competition representative commented on the fact that Microsoft has been the only organization to fail to comply with an antitrust ruling.