EU fines Microsoft over web browser

Microsoft has been fined 561 million euros ($731m; £484m) for failing to promote a range of web browsers, rather than just Internet Explorer, to users in the European Union (EU). It introduced a Browser Choice Screen pop-up in March 2010 as part of a settlement following an earlier EU competition investigation. But the US company dropped the feature in a Windows 7 update in February 2011. Microsoft said the omission had been the result of a "technical error". But competition commissior Joaquin Almunia said the action was unprecedented, adding he wanted to deter any company from the "temptation" of reneging on such a promise. In theory the watchdog could have fined the firm 10% of its global annual revenue, which would have totalled $7.4bn based on its 2012 report. "We take full responsibility for the technical error that caused this problem and have apologised for it," a spokesman for Microsoft said following the announcement. "We provided the Commission with a complete and candid assessment of the situation, and we have taken steps to strengthen our software development and other processes to help avoid this mistake - or anything similar - in the future." One lawyer said the ruling was also intended to send out a message to others. "The European Commission is sending a firm signal in this first case of its type that it will not tolerate failure by a company to comply with the commitments it gave to settle an antitrust infringement procedure," said Tony Woodgate from Simmons & Simmons. Please turn on JavaScript. Media requires JavaScript to play. //

EU fines Microsoft over web browser 2013-03-06T10:59:00-08:00 Rating: 4.5 Diposkan Oleh: Undercover 999