Luxembourg, May 25 - FSFE played a key role at a Microsoft hearing before the European Union's General Court on Tuesday, helping explain the intricacies of Free Software servers.

If one were to believe Microsoft, antitrust law is for sore losers who are too lazy to innovate, and the decision of the European Court of Justice against Microsoft was to the detriment of consumers around the world. One might even believe that any company with large enough market share would now have to fear the wrath of the European Commission and its anti-innovation bloodhounds.

A European Union court upheld most of a landmark 2004 European Commission antitrust decision against Microsoft

A European Union court on Monday dismissed Microsoft's appeal against the 2004 ruling which found the company had abused its dominant market position to score over rivals. Microsoft's lawyers failed to impress the European Court of First Instance, which not only dismissed the case but also rejected the appeal against the €497 million ($690 million) fine imposed on the company.

The Free Software Foundation Europe has analysed the most important elements that a settlement should contain to allow real competition in the European software market. It has summarised those key points in a letter sent to Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.

The FSFE advises the Commission to put an end to Microsoft FUD using unnamed software patents; Eolas sues massively

A fine of $810 million sounds like a lot of money. That is what Microsoft was fined for anti-competitive conduct. The fine by the European Commission was upheld this week by the European Court of First Instance.

The Business Software Alliance (BSA) is pressuring the European Commission to remove the last vestiges of support for Open Standards from the latest version of the EU's interoperability recommendations, the European Interoperability Framework. FSFE has obtained a copy of a letter sent to the Commission by the BSA last week.

Free Software Foundation Europe today announces that it will support the European Commission's antitrust investigation against Microsoft and to this effect it has formally requested to be admitted as an interested third party.