Microsoft said it been notified on Sunday of the Commission's decision, which effectively gives a Luxembourg court time to sort out the case without feeling pressure to reach an immediate decision.
The announcement quickly followed Microsoft's request to Court of First Instance asking for an emergency stay of the media player requirement. A temporary suspension of the media player requirement while the case continues was "expected either by the Commission or the court," Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said on Sunday.
Microsoft has filed a 100-page appeal before asking the court to annul the European Commission's $604m fine (£331m) and media player requirement. Desler said the request for an emergency stay filed on Friday, which buttresses the appeal, is confidential.
"The remedies will not only hurt Microsoft, they will hurt many other software development companies and Web site developers who have built products for the Windows platform," Microsoft said in a statement. "Most importantly, they will also harm consumers by limiting choice and degrading the usability of personal computers."
The Court of First Instance, Europe's second-highest judicial body, is expected to hold a hearing on Microsoft's request within the next two months.
If the order had not been suspended, some of the European Commission's deadlines would have begun to take effect. The Commission's 24 March decision gave Microsoft 90 days to offer an operating system without the media player included and 120 days to begin sharing proprietary information with its competitors regarding its server software.
The US Justice Department has criticised the European crackdown on Microsoft, saying that its own investigation has led to "substantial changes to Microsoft's business practices" and yanking the Windows Media Player was unjustified and could be harmful. In addition, prominent Democratic and Republican politicians have slammed the prosecution on the other side of the Atlantic as violating a 1991 antitrust cooperation agreement.
Talkback
A car won't work without a radio?
That's much the same as Microsoft's idiotic standpoint.
But on the other hand, the EC don't tell car manufacturers to sell their cars without the radio, do they? You can change the radio if you don't like it, but you'd find it hard to buy a car without one.
On the contrary. Most of the time you do have the option to buy a car without the radio at no extra cost. I bought a new MG ZR (great car) a while back without a radio. Even on cars with the radio built in to the dashboard you tend to get a choice of whichever radio you want.
typical of the bunch of airy fairy wet between the ears twat the EC M$ Corp has paid someone a backhander and they get let out for nowt just what the hell do we have to do to get M$ Corp dealt with the way they SHOULD be ie Clobbered good and hard i know there are the poor old M$ Copr people out there but they are going to have to shut the **** up Knaff orft and take the rough with the smooth
MS Corp have twisted the rules for too long now ..
I wonder just who got the handsome backhander this time whoever it was needs to be made to pay it back and carry the punishment forward ..
Enough is Enough time has come to sort them out once and for all