A host of top-tier transatlantic firms have finally seen an end to the nine-year €497m (£344m) Microsoft court battle which finished this week with wide-reaching implications for European competition law.
A decision by the European Court of First Instance (CFI) on 17 September upheld a 2004 European Commission (EC) ruling that Microsoft breached antitrust rules. The EC imposed a record fine against Microsoft in 2004, claiming it was anti-competitive by refusing to give rivals information required to make their systems compatible with Windows and by tying Windows Media Player into its operating system.
