The figure remains confidential. Media reports speculate on figures between €200 million and €700 million. In fact, the Commission has the power to fine the company up to 10% of Microsoft's global revenues – equating to a fine of around €2.6 billion.
In the past the Commission has never fined a company more than 2% of its annual revenues. Its biggest fine to date was €462 million, levied on Hoffman-LaRoche for price-fixing vitamins. Many analysts anticipate little more than a 1% figure for Microsoft – which has been compared to a "parking ticket" for a company with $53 billion in the bank.
The Commission has been investigating Microsoft since 1998, when competitors accused the company of failing to disclose hardware specifications necessary to integrate non-Microsoft software into corporate networks. Last week the Commission announced that last-minute negotiations to settle the investigation had failed.
The Commission's draft ruling has been circulating Commission offices over the past few months, and reports predict that a fine will be imposed and the Windows Media Player will be untied from Windows. This means that Microsoft would be required to offer its European customers a version of Windows without Windows Media Player.
The ruling is also likely to require Microsoft to reveal more source code, to allow rivals such as Sun Microsystems to achieve full interoperability with Windows PCs and servers.
The proposed sanctions received the unanimous backing of the 15 Member States last week, and yesterday the same representatives approved the level of fine that will be imposed.
Microsoft continues to fight legal battles on other fronts. In Nebraska, an appeals court last week reinstated a class action against the company, which alleged that the company had breached antitrust legislation by overcharging customers who purchased the Windows 98 operating system. In Minnesota, it faces a similar action. And in Japan it faces the prospect of yet another antitrust battle after a raid on its local offices last month by competition regulators.