Microsoft May Face New Antitrust Charges in Europe

By Trey Thoelcke Published Sep 27, 6:43AM EDT

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The European Union is about to decide whether Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) broke any of the provisions of its 2009 antitrust settlement. If so, there could be years of court challenges, much as their were prior to 2009. According to Dow Jones:

The European Commission is considering whether to declare U.S. software maker Microsoft Corp. in breach of a 2009 ruling ordering the company to offer users a choice of Internet browsers, the European Union’s antitrust chief said Thursday.

“Microsoft has not kept its promises. We will have to consider taking the next step in this case,” Joaquin Almunia said. “The next step is to open a procedure to determine a breach to our settlement. Since Microsoft has admitted it, I hope it will not take long.”

The EU reached a settlement with Microsoft in 2009 after more than a decade of investigations that included 1.64 billion euros ($2.14 billion) in fines. Microsoft said in July it hadn’t included a browser-choice screen due to a technical error and that it was taking steps to fix the problem.

Douglas A. McIntyre

About the Author Trey Thoelcke →

Trey has been an editor and author at 24/7 Wall St. for more than a decade, where he has published thousands of articles analyzing corporate earnings, dividend stocks, short interest, insider buying, private equity, and market trends. His comprehensive coverage spans the full spectrum of financial markets, from blue-chip stalwarts to emerging growth companies.

Beyond 24/7 Wall St., Trey has created and edited financial content for Benzinga and AOL's BloggingStocks, contributing additional hundreds of articles to the investment community. He previously oversaw the 24/7 Climate Insights site, managing editorial operations and content strategy, and currently oversees and creates content for My Investing News.

Trey's editorial expertise extends across multiple publishing environments. He served as production editor at Dearborn Financial Publishing and development editor at Kaplan, where he helped shape financial education materials. Earlier in his career, he worked as a writer-producer at SVE. His freelance editing portfolio includes work for prestigious clients such as Sage Publications, Rand McNally, the Institute for Supply Management, the American Library Association, Eggplant Literary Productions, and Spiegel.

Outside of financial journalism, Trey writes fiction and has been an active member of the writing community for years, overseeing a long-running critique group and moderating workshop sessions at regional conventions. He lives with his family in an old house in the Midwest.