Corp-Ethics.com - Report: South Korea fines Microsoft $32m

Company	Microsoft Corporation [Company Info]
	Track this Company (an email will be sent to you everytime a report is filed about this company)

Date	Issue	Title
7th Dec 2005	Other Issue	South Korea fines Microsoft $32m

Report

Microsoft has been fined 33bn won ($32m; £18.4m) following an antitrust ruling by South Korean regulators.

The US software giant was ordered to unbundle its messaging service from its Windows software by South Korea's Fair Trade Commission.

Regulators ordered Microsoft to introduce a version of Windows which enables the embedding of services by other software companies.

The news came as Microsoft announced plans to invest $1.7bn in India.

Chairman Bill Gates said the company planned to increase its workforce in the country "to 7,000 over the next three to four years" and boost spending on research and development.

The antitrust ruling in South Korea followed allegations raised by internet firm Daum Communications that Microsoft was breaching antitrust rules by selling a version of Windows that included its instant messenger software.

"Windows' Media Server, Media Player and Internet Messenger services were blocking competition and leading to a monopoly in the market," said the Fair Trade Commission's chairman Kang Chul-kyu following the announcement of the ruling.

Microsoft was "raising the entry barriers to PC server and operating system makers, hurting the interest of consumers" he said.

Microsoft said it was "disappointed with the ruling" and planned to appeal against the decision, the Reuters news agency reported.

The firm is currently challenging a similar European Union ruling.

However, Reuters said Microsoft did not intend to follow through on a threat to withdraw its Windows operating system from South Korea.

Microsoft last month reached a separate $30m settlement with Daum Communications.

In October, the company agreed to pay US software rival RealNetworks $761m to end an anti-competition lawsuit over computer music players.

RealNetworks had alleged that Microsoft forced PC makers to fit its rival's Windows Media Player software at the expense of its own Real Player.

Other Reports on Microsoft Corporation
Date	Issue	Company	Report
19th Sep 2006	Other Issue	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft accused over Vista row
12th Jul 2006	Other Issue	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft hit with 280m euro fine
18th Apr 2006	Other Issue	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft loses out again in EU row
10th Mar 2006	Questionable Practice	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft faces new fines threat
26th Jan 2006	Other Issue	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft may still face EU fine
22nd Dec 2005	Questionable Practice	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft may face daily EU fine
1st Jul 2005	Other Issue	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft pays out $775m to IBM
15th Jun 2005	Questionable Practice	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft helps China to censor bloggers
18th Mar 2005	Other Issue	Microsoft Corporation	EU warns on Microsoft behaviour
28th Jun 2004	Other Issue	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft settles anti-trust case
13th Apr 2004	Other Issue	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft settles patents case
24th Mar 2004	Other Issue	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft hit by record EU fine
19th Mar 2004	Questionable Practice	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft facing EU fines
27th Jan 2004	Questionable Practice	Microsoft Corporation	EU Anti Competition Investigation
15th Dec 2003	Questionable Practice	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft abandons older Windows
8th Jul 2003	Questionable Practice	Microsoft Corporation	Microsoft faces new probe

Related Reports from the Computing & IT Industry
Company	Issue	Report
Oracle Corporation	Questionable Practice	Oracle settles Insider Trading lawsuit
Livedoor	Fraud Investigation	Fund chief is arrested in continuing Livedoor scandal
Google	Questionable Practice	Google discrimination lawsuit
Livedoor	Fraud Investigation	Japanese tycoon and his staff guilty of fraud
Apple Computers	Questionable Practice	Apple admits excessive iPod hours