The European Union"s top antitrust regulator is set to issue a formal ruling finding software giant Microsoft Corp. guilty of breaking EU competition rules, the Financial Times reported on Tuesday. The paper said Microsoft could face fines of up to 2 million euros ($2.51 million) a day. Quoting people familiar with the situation, the Financial Times said the European Commission"s antitrust directorate had drafted a ruling according to which Microsoft had failed to fully implement the EU"s March 2004 antitrust decision.
That decision included an order to provide rival companies with "complete and accurate" information about its Windows operating system, a step Brussels has said is needed for other firms to build products compatible with the Microsoft system. "The Commission"s process calls for an advisory committee meeting, so this comes as no surprise," Microsoft said in a statement, adding it had committed "massive resources to the technical documentation program" and had already delivered five of seven instalments.