European Union (EU) regulators have fined Microsoft a record €899 million ($1.4 billion) for failing to comply with an antitrust order issued in 2004.The European commission (EC) dealt the financial penalty - which is the largest ever imposed on a single company by the EU - because the software and internet firm did not fulfil demands that it share vital parts of its software with rival businesses.
Four years ago, Microsoft was fined €497 million after an investigation found that it had behaved in an anti-competitive manner.
Then in 2006, the company was hit with another financial sanction - this time totalling €280.5 million - after it failed to comply with the EC's ruling that it provide some of the code used in its Windows software package to rivals to enable them to develop their own software that works with it.
Commenting on the case, competition commissioner Neelie Kroes stated: "I hope that today's decision closes a dark chapter in Microsoft's record of non-compliance with the commission's March 2004 decision.
"Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision."
Meanwhile, responding to its sentencing, Microsoft stated that the fine concerns "past issues that have been resolved".
Last month, EU regulators began unrelated investigations into whether Microsoft is using its market dominance in spreadsheets and word processing to impede rivals, Bloomberg reports.
