The European Commission is investigating whether Microsoft failed to comply...
The European Commission is investigating whether Microsoft failed to comply with its 2009 agreement to offer users a screen enabling them to choose their preferred Web browser, it said Tuesday. On the basis of information it received, the EC said,…
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it believes the company may have failed to roll out the choice screen with Windows 7 Service Pack 1, released in February 2011. That’s despite the fact that last December Microsoft said in an annual compliance report that it had met its commitments, the EC said. Since February 2011, millions of Window users in the EU may not have seen the choice screen, it said. The Internet giant recently acknowledged that the choice screen wasn’t displayed during the period, it said. The EC takes compliance with its decisions very seriously, Competition Policy Commissioner Joaquín Almunia said. He trusted the company’s reports were accurate, he said. Since that apparently isn’t the case, the EC has acted immediately, he said. If the probe confirms an infringement, “Microsoft should expect sanctions,” he said. The company admitted it goofed: “We have fallen short in our responsibility” to display the browser choice screen. Due to a technical error, it missed delivering the screen choice software to PCs that came with the Service Pack 1 update to Windows 7, it said. The software has now been delivered as it should have been to PCs running the original version of Windows 7, as well as the relevant versions of Windows XP and Vista, it said. However, while it believed when it filed its most recent EC compliance report that it was distributing the screen choice as required, “we recently learned that we've missed” serving it to around 28 million PCs running Windows 7 SP1, it said. Microsoft said it deeply regrets the mistake and apologizes for it. Once notified by the EC that it was out of compliance, Microsoft said, it distributed the screens within one business day; launched an outside investigation to see how the error occurred; and offered to extend its compliance period.