Microsoft Loses Latest Battle in EU Antitrust War

On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Mark Wolf rejected Microsoft’s attempts to subpoena documents pertaining to its ongoing antitrust case with the European Union (EU) because he claimed the Redmond, Wash.-based computer giant was attempting to undermine the union’s laws, Reuters reports via The Washington Post.

Microsoft was attempting to obtain documents from a number of firms for use in its defense against the daily 2 million euro fines imposed upon it by the EU in regards to a 2004 antitrust case in which the European Commission (EC) ruled that the company had violated antitrust regulations.

“Enforcing Microsoft’s … subpoena to Novell would circumvent and undermine the law of the European Community concerning how a litigant may obtain third-party documents,” the judge wrote in his decision, according to Reuters.

Attorneys in Belgium who oppose Microsoft made the ruling publicly available, Reuters reports.

Karen Williams, an EC hearing officer, already shot down Microsoft’s attempts to acquire a number of documents from other companies because she said they were confidential, according to Reuters. In response, Microsoft asked U.S. courts to hand down the subpoenas, which were then appealed by the recipient companies, Reuters reports.

Last month, a California district court dismissed one subpoena attempt that would have forced Sun Microsystems to provide Microsoft with evidence, and a New York court justice is reviewing Microsoft’s request to subpoena IBM, according to Reuters.

Microsoft attorneys are next week slated to appear before the EU’s second-highest court, the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, to appeal the commission’s 2004 ruling, Reuters reports.

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