EU Says Antitrust Fine Is Likely for Microsoft

Microsoft Corp. probably will be fined for failing to comply with an antitrust order, European Union Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said.

Competitors and regulators say Microsoft, whose products run on about 95% of all personal computers, resisted complying with a March 2004 order to license information to rivals on how Windows communicates over a network.

“We believe fines to be unjustified and unnecessary,” said Horacio Gutierrez, Microsoft’s associate general counsel.