Microsoft to license code to avoid EU fines
Microsoft has agreed to license the source code for communications protocols in its Windows server software in a bid to avoid being fined €2m (about £1.37m) a day by the EC (the European Commission), the company's top lawyer said today.
"I don't believe any decision to implement a fine is warranted," Brad Smith, Microsoft's general counsel, told reporters in Brussels, following the announcement that the firm would license the code to third-party vendors.
The EC, which is the European Union's antitrust enforcement arm, has threatened to hit the company with the hefty fines unless it comes into compliance with the EC's March 2004 antitrust decision against it.
