How much can Microsoft be fined for non-compliance on the remuneration issue which is the subject of todays Statement of Objections, and for what period can it be fined?
The Commission has not yet taken any final decision on whether or not Microsoft has failed to comply with the 2004 Decision as regards pricing of the interoperability information, and will only decide once it has examined any response (in writing and/or at an oral hearing) Microsoft may make to the Statement of Objections. Only at that stage will the Commission reach a final decision on whether Microsoft has failed to comply in this respect and on the appropriate level of the fine. The Commission has discretion over the level of the fine, which may be the same as or less than the total of the daily penalty payments to which Microsoft is potentially subject. The fine can in principle be calculated as from 16 December 2005.
