The European Commission is on track to make an announcement next week on the results of its landmark antitrust probe into Microsoft, a Commission spokeswoman said on Wednesday as 11th-hour talks continued.
(MSNBC.COM is a joint venture of Microsoft and NBC.)
“What I believe is that we are on track...for an announcement next week, which was always the plan,” spokeswoman Amelia Torres told a news conference, adding that settlement talks were still going on.
She was responding to a question about discussions on Tuesday between European Competition Commissioner Mario Monti, Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer and chief counsel Brad Smith.
People familiar with the case said an announcement next week did not preclude the possibility of a settlement.
If there were a settlement, the Commission would discuss it on March 24. After that third parties would have approximately one month to comment. The final compromise would not be officially completed until after May 1.
On May 1, a new law takes effect which would permit a so-called “settlement decision,” which allows a formal Commission finding of abuse of dominance as part of a negotiated settlement.
But Monti has already got support from EU governments for a draft ruling that would find Microsoft broke antitrust law and require it to change the way it sells audio-visual software.
On Monday, the 15 states are due to endorse a fine expected to run into hundreds of millions of euros.
The final Commission decision is due on March 24.
