The European Union (EU) Court of First Instance has upheld sanctions slapped by the European Commission against Microsoft Corporation, ordering the world’s largest software company to change business practices and reveal some trade secrets.
The latest ruling by the Luxembourg-based court also forced Microsoft to take steps, including producing a version of Windows without its Media Player software.
The court’s president, Bo Vesterdorf, dismissed Microsoft’s application for interim measures.
”After examining the circumstances of the case, the president finds that Microsoft has not shown that it might suffer serious and irreparable damage as a result of
implementation of the contested decision,” the court said in a statement.
But Microsoft disagrees.
“‘We are encouraged by a number of aspects of the court’s discussion of the merits of the case,” the company said in a statement.
“‘We believe that the code-removal remedy, obliging Microsoft to release a degraded version of the Windows operating system, will be harmful to consumers and competition and undermines the technology integration that has been the backbone of the IT revolution over the past three decades.
“‘We are hopeful that the issues highlighted by the court will create an opportunity for the parties to discuss settlement,” Microsoft said.
“‘We believe that there are better ways to address such complex and technical issues, with a minimum of harm to European consumers and the European technology sector.”
In March, the commission, the EU’s executive body, slapped a record fine of about $875 million on Microsoft and demanded the company separate the Media Player software from its Windows operating system within 90 days, claiming the software giant was hindering fair competition.
