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Technology Stocks : COMS & the Ghost of USRX w/ other STUFF
COMS 0.00400+185.7%Dec 5 9:30 AM EST

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To: david decamp who wrote (7148)10/21/1997 9:27:00 AM
From: Moonray   of 22053
 
Microsoft Faces EU Inquiry on Internet Contracts

Brussels, Oct. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The European Commission
is investigating several Microsoft Corp. contracts with
Internet service providers for possible breaches of fair
trading rules, a commission official said.

The official, who asked not to be named, said the
European inquiry is moving in parallel with a U.S. Department
of Justice lawsuit announced yesterday, which carries the
threat of fines of $1 million a day for the U.S. software
maker.

The disclosure of the Internet probe in Europe comes a
week after the commission, the executive agency of the 15-
nation European Union, said Microsoft had already come under
scrutiny for a half-dozen possible unfair business practices
alleged by European companies.

The investigation of Microsoft's links to Internet
providers was initiated without prompting by European
businesses, the commission official said. He declined to
disclose the number of contracts or countries involved.

The U.S. Justice Department yesterday charged that
Microsoft is violating a 1995 court order by forcing computer
makers to feature its Internet Explorer software if they want
to get Microsoft's dominant Windows 95 operating system.

The suit, filed in a Washington D.C. federal court, is
seeking fines of $1 million a day unless Microsoft changes its
marketing tactics.

The commission does not have the power to impose fines of
its own. It can, however, go to court to seek injunctions
against Microsoft in Europe.

Microsoft shares rose 1/4 to 132 1/2 yesterday after
falling as low as 127 1/2 on news of the U.S. government's
suit.

Microsoft has been under antitrust investigation by
different government agencies almost continuously for the past
seven years. The Justice Department took over the
investigation about four years ago after the Federal Trade
Commission deadlocked on a vote about whether to bring
charges.

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