• The Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, October 23, 2007 10:45 AM

Microsoft has decided not to appeal last month's European Union commission antitrust ruling, ending a nine-year fight with EU regulators that has cost the software giant hundreds of millions in fines. Defeat means that Microsoft now has to license information to competitors to make their software work better with Windows. It also needs to "tread carefully" when it comes to bundling products and features into sales of the operating system.

Microsoft long maintained that licensing its server software information to competitors would compromise its intellectual property, but EU regulators ruled that doing so prevented competition and perpetuated a monopoly. As a result, the company agreed to open up more information about its Windows operating system to developers and to stop the practice of bundling its media player software with sales of Windows.

The decision not to appeal settles into law that Microsoft was indeed guilty of monopolistic practices. The defeat could also spell trouble for other big techs in Europe, namely Google and Intel, which are both currently under investigation from EU regulators.

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