Microsoft Hit With Another Big Fine
BRUSSELS -- The European Commission last week hit Microsoft Corp. with a fine of €899 million ($1.4 billion U.S.) for what it called a continued failure to honor the provisions of a 2004 antitrust ruling.
EC Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said Microsoft was fined again "for a clear disregard of its legal obligations." She called the move "a reasonable response to unreasonable actions."
Europe's top competition authority had already fined the company €777.5 million ($1.2 billion) -- €497 million ($750 million) in the 2004 ruling, plus an additional €280.5 million ($423 million) for noncompliance.
Microsoft said it is reviewing the action and that the latest fines "are about the past issues that have been resolved." -- Paul Meller and Peter Sayer, IDG News Service
Wipro Plans Big China Expansion
SHANGHAI -- Wipro Ltd. plans to increase its workforce in China to 2,000 over two years, Chief Operating Officer A.L. Rao said last week.
The Bangalore, India-based company currently has about 200 workers in its Shanghai-based Chinese operation.
"We would like to see China as another resource for talent and to set up development centers there and maybe go after Chinese clients," Rao said during a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan in Tokyo.
Most of the company's current business in China is with non-Chinese companies with operations in the country. -- Martyn Williams, IDG News Service
Briefly Noted
The Australian Department of Defence has awarded Unisys Corp.'s Australian subsidiary a contract worth $240 million Australian ($225 million U.S.) to support servers, security systems and more than 100,000 desktop systems spread across 460 locations around the country. -- Sandra Rossi, Computerworld Australia
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