[JURIST] The European Court of First Instance [official website] announced Tuesday that it will deliver a judgment [press release, PDF] September 17 in Microsoft's appeal [JURIST report] against the European Commission's (EC) 2004 landmark anti-trust ruling [JURIST report] that hit Microsoft [corporate website; JURIST news archive] with a record €497.2 million euro (approximately $686 million) fine. Microsoft, which is seeking the "annulment of the decision or a substantial reduction in the fine imposed on it," has been accused by the EC of steadily increasing its market share [JURIST report] in the workgroup server market through abusive business practices; the company has been threatened with additional fines [JURIST report]. Both the European Commission and Microsoft can appeal the judgment to the European Court of Justice [official website; JURIST news archive].

Last July, EC antitrust regulators imposed a €2 million euro per day (approximately $2.75 million) fine [JURIST report] on Microsoft for continuing noncompliance with its 2004 order, which required Microsoft to share information necessary for compatibility with competitors and offer a reduced version of the Windows XP operating system without Windows Media Player. AP has more.