Future of innovation at stake in Microsoft case
Microsoft and its critics agree that the future of innovation is at stake when the U.S. software giant challenges a landmark 2004 antitrust ruling next week before the European Union's second highest court.
But they will take opposite tacks on what that means before a special 13-judge panel of the Court of First Instance, which starts five days of public hearings on Monday.
The court has to decide whether to overturn the European Commission's finding that Microsoft abused the near-monopoly of its Windows operating system to muscle out rivals. That prompted a record fine and an order to change its business practices. Microsoft will argue it acted within the law to compete with other makers of audiovisual software, used to watch films and listen to music, and office server software, used to print, access files and sign on. But it says the stakes are bigger.
