The BBC reports that Microsoft was fined € 500 million for limiting competition with its Windows Media Player software. At today’s exchange rates, that’s approximately $621 million. The European Union Competition Commission wants a competitive market to exist in basic multimedia software for PCs, and they believe that Microsoft has made this very difficult by the degree to which Windows Media Player is integrated into the Microsoft Windows operating systems.
The Competition Commission has also ordered some changes to the way Microsoft markets Windows in Europe. A long series of appeals is likely.