EU hits Microsoft with $731M fine; regulator takes some blame | Business & Technology | The Seattle Times

Strange days indeed

"In a highly unusual mea culpa, the European Union’s top antitrust regulator said Wednesday his department bore some of the responsibility for Microsoft’s failure to respect a settlement that landed the company a $731 million fine.
Joaquin Almunia, the competition commissioner, said the EU had been “naive” to put Microsoft in charge of monitoring its adherence to the deal it agreed to in 2009, when his predecessor let the company escape a fine in exchange for offering users of its Windows software a wider choice of Internet browsers."

EU hits Microsoft with $731M fine; regulator takes some blame | Business & Technology | The Seattle Times