Competition regulators from the 15 European Union member states will gather in Brussels Monday to discuss the European Commission"s negative draft ruling against Microsoft Corp. The draft ruling brands the company an abusive monopolist for the way it used its ubiquitous operating system, Windows, to stifle competition in the markets for video and music playing software and server software, according people close to the case.
In order to restore competition in the first market, the Commission wants Microsoft to sell two versions of Windows to PC manufacturers: one with its Media Player stripped out, as well as the existing version that has Media Player bundled into the operating system, people said. To redress the balance in the market for server software, which drives PC networks, the Commission wants Microsoft to reveal enough of the secret code in Windows to allow rival server software makers to design products that work equally well with Windows on PCs as Microsoft"s own server software.