E.U. to give Microsoft leeway

The European Commission plans to let Microsoft choose how to solve E.U. competition concerns to avoid breaching the company's intellectual property rights, a source familiar with the case said Tuesday.

This would be a more favorable decision for Microsoft than having to follow to the letter obligations drawn up by the European Union. The commission, the European Union's competition watchdog, is investigating whether Microsoft abused the dominant position of its Windows operating system in the market for personal computer software by tying its Media Player program--used to play music and videos--to Windows. The commission wants to impose remedies on Microsoft to prevent the company from committing more alleged competition abuses.

News source: C|Net News.com