Microsoft Corp put itself on a collision course with European Union authorities on Wednesday in a dispute over the powers of a trustee who is to make sure the software giant stops violating antitrust law. The EU executive Commission has ruled that Microsoft abused its monopoly on computer software and told it to change its business practices. A trustee was supposed to monitor that the company lived up to this ruling. But the Commission said Microsoft's proposal for the trustee was unacceptable, a charge the company rejects.
"We have officially informed Microsoft that their proposal on the monitoring trustee is not acceptable," Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said. "Essentially they wished to have a veto on what issues the monitoring trustee could examine." Microsoft immediately rejected the Commission's interpretation of its own decision.
"We are fully committed to complying with the Commission's decision," Microsoft spokesman Dirk Delmartino said. "All the proposals we are sending to the Commission we believe are in line with the decision."
The Commission, which policies competition in the 25-nation bloc, imposed remedies on the US software giant one year ago - March 24, 2004 - along with a record 497 million euro ($654.9 million) fine.
The company was supposed to nominate an independent "monitoring trustee" as part of this decision, to make sure it properly carried out its obligation to sell a version of Windows without audio-visual software and to share information with rival makers of servers.
Microsoft said it will respond to the Commission's charge by an April 11 deadline.
"This is a complex area and we are happy to look at the feedback," Microsoft's Delmartino said, adding the company believes its proposals already comply with the Commission's decision.
The decision says that if the Commission considers Microsoft's proposal "not suitable it retains the right to impose such a (monitoring) mechanism by way of a decision."
Such a decision could come as soon as the end of April if Microsoft refuses to change, a Commission official said.
If Microsoft were to further defy the Commission, it could fine the company up to 5 percent of its daily world turnover, which is about $5 million daily.
But imposing a new fine would be a time-consuming, unusual and complex last resort, which would require further charges and findings by the Commission.
DIVIDEND AT CURRENT LEVEL: In another report, Microsoft Corp on Wednesday declared a quarterly dividend of 8 cents per share, which is in line with the present rate.
The dividend is payable on June 9, the top software maker said.
Dina to join
Dina Dublon, retired chief financial officer of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co, will join Microsoft Corp's board of directors, the world's largest software maker said on Wednesday.
Dublon, 51, was also appointed to the board's audit committee. Dublon, who was one of the most powerful women on Wall Street, left J.P. Morgan late last year.
On the Microsoft board, she succeeds William Reed, former chairman of Simpson Investment Co Reed retired from the board at the end of his term last November.
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