Microsoft has been fined £485 m (561 million euros) by EU for failing to offer consumers a choice of web browser.
An EU investigation found that Microsoft had failed to honour that obligation in software issued between May 2011 and July 2012, meaning that 15 million users were never made aware that they could choose.
'Legally binding commitments reached in antitrust decisions play a very important role in our enforcement policy,' said Joaquin Almunia, the EU's competition commissioner.
'A failure to comply is a very serious infringement that must be sanctioned accordingly.'
It is believed the heavy fines will act as a warning to other technology firms such as Google involved in antitrust disputes with the EU.
In that respect, the fine is relatively light, but experts say it still marks a firm sanction by the EU and will not go unnoticed by the likes of Google, which is involved in a dispute with the Commission over how it ranks search engine results.
Google is under pressure to offer concessions to prevent the antitrust authority moving to the next stage in the case, which could involve fines.
Read more about it at: Mail Online
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