News

Microsoft Makes EU Fine Appeal Official

Microsoft lodges formal appeal against $357 million EU antitrust fine.

(Brussels, Belgium) Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday it filed an appeal against a 280.5 million euro ($357 million) fine the EU imposed in July for failing to obey an earlier antitrust ruling.

The European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg confirmed it received a faxed copy of the appeal from Microsoft and was waiting for the original to arrive. A spokesman said it was too early to give a date for a hearing or to say whether the case would be handled separately from Microsoft's other legal challenges before the courts.

Microsoft announced it would appeal on July 12, immediately after it was fined for not complying with an EU order to share information with software developers.

The company said it would ask the court to decide if EU regulators were right to claim that it had not supplied "complete and accurate technical specifications" to rivals making software for servers that help computers running Windows, printers and other devices on a network talk to each other.

Microsoft said the "unprecedented" fine was unfair and the EU had not been clear about its demands and how it should present the information.

The July fine was the first time the EU fined a company for not obeying an earlier order.

The appeal is Microsoft's fourth legal challenge in its long-running dispute with the EU, running back to the EU's March 2004 ruling that Microsoft broke antitrust law by abusing its monopoly.

Featured

  • Microsoft Offers Support Extensions for Exchange 2016 and 2019

    Microsoft has introduced a paid Extended Security Update (ESU) program for on-premises Exchange Server 2016 and 2019, offering a crucial safety cushion as both versions near their Oct. 14, 2025 end-of-support date.

  • An image of planes flying around a globe

    2025 Microsoft Conference Calendar: For Partners, IT Pros and Developers

    Here's your guide to all the IT training sessions, partner meet-ups and annual Microsoft conferences you won't want to miss.

  • Notebook

    Microsoft Centers AI, Security and Partner Dogfooding at MCAPS

    Microsoft's second annual MCAPS for Partners event took place Tuesday, delivering a volley of updates and directives for its partners for fiscal 2026.

  • Microsoft Layoffs: AI Is the Obvious Elephant in the Room

    As Microsoft doubles down on an $80 billion bet on AI this fiscal year, its workforce reductions are drawing scrutiny over whether AI's ascent is quietly reshaping its human capital strategy, even as official messaging avoids drawing a direct line.