In an unexpected move, Microsoft Corp. Thursday posted on its Website its formal response to the European Commission’s Statement ofObjections, complaints made in the European Union’s (EU’s)antitrust case against the company.
The response, filed Feb. 15 in Brussels as an attempt to avoidhefty fines the Commission is considering against Microsoft, isonline at http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/legal/02-23-06ResponsetoECSO.mspx
According to Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman, the filingprocess for the EU antitrust case has been “a closed process.”Microsoft decided to go public with its confidential filing, withsome slight tweaks, because it has concerns about “the transparencyof the process” and wanted to make the documents public, hesaid.
Microsoft has complained that the Commission has failed to considerkey information it has submitted and that it has not given thecompany due process to defend itself in the case.
According to the Web site, Microsoft’s formal response to theCommission shows evidence that the company is “in full compliance”with the technical documentation requirements imposed by theCommission’s antitrust ruling in 2004. It also “details numerousways in which the Commission had ignored key information and deniedMicrosoft due process in defending itself,” the company said.
In addition to a 78-page formal response to the Commission’sStatement of Objections, Microsoft also posted a report on itscompliance efforts. In addition, the Web site includes reports byindependent software system engineering professors that have takena look at Microsoft’s technical documentation.
The Commission’s Statement of Objections was issued in December2005.
Microsoft had until Feb. 15 to convince the Commission it iscomplying with the 2004 ruling, which required the company toensure interoperability of its server software with competitors,among other things. The Commission has not responded yet toMicrosoft’s response.
If the Commission decides Microsoft has not complied with itsruling, the company could face daily fines of up to