Microsoft v. Commission: European Court of First Instance rejects Microsoft challenge to European Commission decision

Judgment T-201/04

Full opinion
European Court of First Instance summary and press release

On September 17, the European Court of First Instance rejected Microsoft’s challenge to the European Commission’s 2004 determination that Microsoft “abused a dominant market position†by:

1. refusing to supply competitors with proprietary “interoperability information†necessary to develop products that would compete with Microsoft workgroup server products, and
2. bundling Windows Media Player with Windows operating systems, without an unbundling option, between 1999 and 2004.

In its 2004 determination, the Commission imposed a fine of nearly €500 million, which the Court left unchanged. Microsoft may appeal the decision to the European Court of Justice within 60 days.

The court sided with Microsoft on one procedural issue, holding that the Commission exceeded its authority in requiring Microsoft to appoint a monitoring trustee with powers independent of the Commission at the company’s own expense. Microsoft itself acknowledged, however, that the trustee issue was relatively unimportant.

BBC News summarizes the decision.
Microsoft issued a statement shortly after the decision was issued.
The EU Law Blog comments on the trustee issue.