Several companies said today that they were filing a new complaint against US software giant Microsoft with EU anti-trust regulators.
The group of competitors, which counts technology giants such as IBM, Nokia and Oracle in its ranks, said that appealing to the European Commission was the only way to make Microsoft correct its 'anti-competitive behaviour'.
It said it was targeting 'Microsoft's existing monopolies' as well as plans to 'extend its market dominance into a range of existing and pre-announced future product areas'.
The European Commission said it had received the complaint and that it would review it. Microsoft is already embroiled in a standoff with the European Commission on whether or not the group is complying with a March 2004 anti-trust decision against it, in which the software company was fined a record €497m for abuse of its market position.
Microsoft was also ordered to sell a version of its Windows operating system unbundled from its Media Player software and to divulge information on its operating system needed by manufacturers of rival products.
The US giant is hoping to have the ruling annulled in an appeal due to go before the European Court of First Instance, the EU's second-highest court, in the last week of April.
The commission is increasingly impatient for evidence of compliance with its 2004 ruling and turned up the heat in December by threatening to slap a daily fine of up to €2m on the company.
