Microsoft withdrawals appeal in Skorean antitrust case

Photo: Microsoft withdrawals appeal in Skorean antitrust case

Microsoft Corp. ends a legal battle to overturn an antitrust decision in South Korea.

"Microsoft has withdrawn its appeal in the Korea Fair Trade Commission case," the software giant said in a statement. The company said Tuesday it had applied to the Seoul High Court, asking that the case be withdrawn.

The commission in February last year fined Microsoft 32.5 billion won and ordered it to provide two separate versions of Windows, saying the company abused its dominant market position by tying certain software to the operating system.

The fine was equal to US$35.4 million (EUR25 million) at current exchange rates.

Though Microsoft complied with the ruling, the company fought it in court.

Microsoft released two new versions of Windows, one stripped of Windows Media Player and Windows Messenger and the other carrying links to Web pages that allow consumers to download competing versions of such software.

"Rather than pursuing an appeal of the KFTC's decision, our focus going forward is to continue to work collaboratively with the KFTC, and to ensure that consumers benefit from vibrant competition in the IT industry," Microsoft said in the statement.

In September, Microsoft lost its appeal of a European antitrust order to pay a record EUR497 million (US$704 million) fine, share communications code with rivals and sell a copy of Windows without Media Player.