Banasevic, Nicholas; Hellström, Per --- "Windows into the World of Abuse of Dominance: An Analysis of the Commission’s 2004 Microsoft Decision and the CFI’s 2007 Judgment" [2010] ELECD 474; in Rubini, Luca (ed), "Microsoft on Trial" (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2010)

Book Title: Microsoft on Trial

Editor(s): Rubini, Luca

Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing

ISBN (hard cover): 9781848442443

Section: Chapter 2

Section Title: Windows into the World of Abuse of Dominance: An Analysis of the Commission’s 2004 Microsoft Decision and the CFI’s 2007 Judgment

Author(s): Banasevic, Nicholas; Hellström, Per

Number of pages: 29

Extract:

2. Windows into the world of abuse
of dominance: An analysis of the
Commission's 2004 Microsoft
Decision and the CFI's 2007
judgment
Nicholas Banasevic and Per Hellström*

1. INTRODUCTION

On 24 March 2004, the European Commission concluded by way of
Decision that Microsoft had violated Article 82 of the EC Treaty by
abusing its dominant position in client PC operating systems in two
ways. First, it had illegally refused to supply interoperability informa-
tion which was indispensable for rival vendors to compete in the work
group server operating systems market. Secondly, it had illegally tied its
Windows Media Player product to its Windows PC operating system. The
Commission also imposed a fine of 497,196 million for what it found to
be a very serious infringement of Article 82 EC.1
On 7 June 2004, Microsoft appealed this Decision to the second highest
Court in Europe, the European Court of First Instance (CFI). On 17
September 2007, sitting as a Grand Chamber of 13 judges, the CFI upheld
the substance of the Commission's Decision as regards both abuses, as
well as the fine that the Commission had imposed.2 Microsoft chose not
to appeal the CFI's judgment to the European Court of Justice.



* The views expressed in this chapter are the authors' personal views, and do
not necessarily represent the position of the European Commission. We are grate-
ful to Friedrich Wenzel Bulst, Kevin Coates, Vittorio di Bucci, Ryan Gordon
Heath and Thomas Kramler for ...