Microsoft fined €561m for 'browser choice' error

Microsoft fined €561m for 'browser choice' error | Technology | guardian.co.uk: "Microsoft could have been fined as much as 10% of its fiscal 2012 revenues - equivalent to €5.9bn. The fine on Wednesday, though large, is substantially less than that. The two sides have given varying estimates of the time and number of users affected: Microsoft suggested it was 28 million people, between February 2011 and July 2012; the European commission, in announcing the fine, put it at 15m and with a starting date of May 2011. Microsoft made a five-year commitment in 2009 to offer users a choice of different browsers, after the EC's competition commission determined that the combination of its dominance on the desktop – where Windows runs around 95% of machines – gave the pre-installed Internet Explorer browser an unfair advantage over rivals. At the time that negotiations first began, in the early 2000s, IE had a share of over 80% among browsers. The commission implemented the "browser choice" system to create a level playing field - and said that once in use, it was very effective" 'via Blog this'