EC to settle Microsoft's fate by mid-July

The European Commission may take until the middle of July to decide whether to impose on Microsoft a daily fine of €2m.

Europe's commissioners will meet for the last time sometime before the summer break on 19 July. A Commission representative told journalists on Tuesday that this was the latest date on which a decision could be taken on the fine, which follows a landmark 2004 antitrust ruling.

Commission sources later confirmed a decision could be taken earlier and denied that 19 July was inked in as D-Day for the EC's ongoing battle with the software giant. One insider said: "We've always been saying that we'll make a decision before the summer."

In 2004, the EC ruled that Microsoft had failed to allow rivals to compete fairly in the server software market and had stifled competition by bundling its Media Player with Windows.

Microsoft has since launched a version of its operating system without Media Player and released server interoperability protocols for licence - although this has failed to impress some critics.

At an appeal held in April, Microsoft argued it should not be fined, claiming it has complied with the 2004 ruling.

Graeme Wearden writes for ZDNet UK