The European Commission today threatened Microsoft with daily fines of $3.8 million if the company doesn't provide interoperability information about its Windows operating system by Nov. 23.

‘The commission expects the remaining omissions and deficiencies in the technical documentation to be remedied by Nov. 23 so that by the end of November the entire set of technical documentation will be available for potential licensees to review,’ the commission said.

The action is the latest in a string of deadlines imposed over the past two years to get Microsoft to license technical documentation for Windows that would allow rivals to develop server software programs that work together smoothly with PCs running Windows.

The order to reveal the documentation was part of the commission's March 2004 antitrust ruling against Microsoft, under which it also fined Microsoft $634 million. In July, the commission fined Microsoft a further $356 million for failing to submit the information.

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes repeated her frustrations in an interview published today in the British newspaper The Guardian. ‘I am not impressed if someone says 90% of the information is already there when we need 100%. It's a jigsaw, and some parts are missing.... In my opinion, this information should have been here a couple of months ago,’ the newspaper quoted her as saying.

In a statement today, Microsoft said that it ‘is committed to full compliance with the commission's March 2004 decision,’ adding that ‘we are working closely with the commission and the monitoring trustee toward that goal,’ it said.

Microsoft initially said that it didn't understand what information the commission wanted. The 2004 ruling ordered the company to make available enough information about Windows to allow makers of rival server software programs to design their products to work as seamlessly with Windows as Microsoft's own server operating system does. After a hearing earlier this year, Microsoft said it finally understood what the commission was after, and submitted what it said was the final installment of information on July 19.

Since then, the commission has been examining the documentation together with the monitoring trustee, Neil Barrett, who was picked by Microsoft to oversee its compliance with the 2004 ruling.

Microsoft said it has committed a team of 300 people to meeting the commission's standard for the technical documentation. ‘We have responded quickly and completely to all requests and queries on the technical documentation since the July deadline and have made very significant progress. We stand ready to do any additional work that is required to comply with the commission's decision,’ Microsoft said.

Source: ComputerWorld