European regulators declared on Monday that they have secured an agreement with Microsoft that will bring the company into compliance with the European Commission’s 2004 ruling on the company’s anticompetitive practices.
Pressure had been mounting up on Microsoft to arrive at an agreement with the Commission since September, when a European court ruled in the favour of the regulators on important issues in their case against the company.
The agreement recognises three changes in Microsoft business practices that will bring the firm into compliance: competing software developers will be able to access and use Microsoft’s interoperability information; royalties for use of the interoperability information will be reduced to a nominal payment of 10,000 euros ($14,348); and royalties for a worldwide license for use of its product, including patents, will be reduced to 0.4 percent from 5.95 percent.
Image: akamai
