Microsoft escapes antitrust spotlight

 

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By Stuart Turton

Posted on 4 Mar 2009 at 17:10

The European Commission has retired the full-time "monitoring trustee" appointed in 2004 to ensure Microsoft's compliance with its antitrust order.

The EC established a full-time independent monitoring board in 2005 to make sure Microsoft followed its order to share technical information with other companies.

However, Brussels says this board is no longer required and that it will instead employ ad-hoc technical consultants to perform periodic checks on the software giant.

"In light of changes in Microsoft's behaviour, the increased opportunity for third parties to exercise their rights directly before national courts and experience gained since the adoption of the 2004 decision, the Commission no longer requires a full-time monitoring trustee to assess Microsoft's compliance," says the EC in a statement.

While the dropping of the oversight board will probably come as a relief to Microsoft, it must still deal with the EC's January ruling that its bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows is harming competition.

The company has eight weeks remaining to respond to the charge.

We were awaiting Microsoft's response at the time of writing.