EU court upholds Microsoft antitrust fine

Microsoft suffered another defeat at the hands of the European Commission, after failing to overturn a hefty fine in a court battle that is likely to draw the curtain on an antitrust feud lasting more than a decade.

While the EU’s second-highest court shaved 4 percent from Microsoft’s €899m fine to €860, it threw out the US technology group’s main arguments to annul the first Brussels penalty levied on a company for non-compliance. The decision is an important victory for Europe’s highest competition authority and bolsters its powers to impose painful financial penalties on companies that refuse to implement its antitrust decisions.

One of the biggest ever EU fines was levied on Microsoft in 2008 after the software group failed to comply with a Brussels order to share data with rivals on reasonable terms. Microsoft offered the data but at a price the commission found excessive.