EC Threatens To Fine Microsoft

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The European Commission (EC) could fine Microsoft Corp. up to 10 percent of its global annual sales for monopoly offenses, it said Wednesday. Microsoft is still committing the monopoly abuses it was first accused of in 1998, the EC said in a preliminary ruling in its long-running antitrust case against the company. The Commission has sent an updated statement of objections to Microsoft, reiterating previous accusations that the software giant has leveraged its dominance in the market for computer operating systems into the markets for server systems and media-player software. The latest statement also outlines the remedies the Commission wants to impose on Microsoft to ensure that competition in these markets is freed up. It comes after extensive research was conducted by the European competition regulator earlier this year to strengthen its legal arguments, Commission spokesman Tilman Lüder said.