US software giant Microsoft faces yet more heavy fines after it promised to offer clients a choice of web browser but has failed to do so, the EU's competition commissioner said.
US software giant Microsoft faces yet more heavy fines after it promised to offer clients a choice of web browser but then failed to do so, the EU's competition commissioner said Monday.
Microsoft apologised in July for a "technical error" as the EU launched a probe into why 28 million users of the Windows 7 operating system were unable to choose between the company's default Internet Explorer and other browsers.
The company had committed in 2009 to provide Windows users in Europe a "choice screen" enabling them to pick an alternative web browser until 2014.
The screen, however, was missing from an update to Windows 7 posted in February 2011 and when it failed to appear, the Commission ran out of patience and launched the formal probe in July.
Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said that as result, Microsoft would be fined.
"The fault is there, it has been there for more than a year and it is clear that we need to react," he said.
"It is not only the distortion of competition during this period which concerns us; it is very serious, from my point of view, that the remedies imposed on Microsoft have not been applied," he said.
"It is easier to make progress in our investigation if a company which has broken competition rules recognises the fact," Almunia added.
A company that is found by the Commission to have breached legally-binding commitments can face fines of up to 10 percent of total annual turnover.
A Microsoft spokesman said the company had responded in July by agreeing to "extend the time period to show the browser choice screen by the time that we failed to show it".
The company has "already sent the browser choice screen to every user who hadn't seen it; all new users will see (it)," the spokesman added.
The EU fined Microsoft 899 million euros ($1.2 billion) in 2008 for failing to comply with an order to share product information with rivals so that their software can work with Windows.
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