Microsoft Decision Set for Mid-December

The EU's Court of First Instance will decide between Dec. 18 and 20 whether to suspend the European Commission's sanctions against software giant Microsoft. Brussels decided in March this year that Microsoft was "abusing its dominant market position" and therefore breaking EU competition laws. It ordered the company to pay a record fine of €497 million ($657 million) and to change some of its marketing practices. Microsoft appealed against the commission's decision. The case has been complicated by the recent withdrawal from the legal proceedings of two main Microsoft opponents, Novell and a US-based trade group called the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA), which reached settlements with Microsoft earlier this month. The company Realnetworks, which makes a rival media player system to Microsoft, is now the only firm left on the commission's side after Microsoft made similar settlements with Sun Microsystems and Time Warner. Realnetworks has denied that it and Brussels are becoming isolated. (EUobserver.com)