Hooray! A small victory, to be sure, but still....

On Wednesday, the European Commission ordered Microsoft to pay a record fine of $613 million (497 million Euros) for abusing its dominant market position.

The company is so cash-rich that the fine is unlikely to hurt much, but what's more significant is the demand for a more "open" approach to Windows' underlying code. In fact, MS has been ordered to reveal additional details within 120 days, to make it easier for rivals to design compatible products.

This related to another key point, that of "bundling," the practice of including unrelated functions within Windows - for example, its Internet Explorer browser - thus depressing markets for other versions of those same programs. (That tactic - not quality or features, which are roughly equivalent - was largely responsible for the dominance IE obtained over Netscape. Why get the latter if you already have the former?)

The software at issue here is Microsoft's MediaPlayer, held to be the beneficiary of an unfair advantage over market rival (and, in my own opinion, far superior) RealPlayer. Microsoft has been ordered to offer a stripped-down version of its Windows operating system, minus MediaPlayer, within 90 days.

By setting limits on Microsoft's practice of bundling software and services with its Windows operating system, [the Commission] has struck a blow against a key part of the software firm's commercial strategy.

And that's a damned good thing, I say.

The company will still be allowed to sell a version of Windows with MediaPlayer bundled in, but to be sure there is no attempt to downgrade the stripped-down version to push sales away from it, it was ruled that

the Commission would appoint a trustee to make sure Microsoft reveals "complete and accurate" software codes "and that the two versions of Windows are equivalent in terms of performance."

Having seen its claims in its US trial that any unbundling would either be impossible or so severely degrade performance as to make the product unmarketable fail to pass the laugh test, Microsoft didn't try that route this time. Instead, it claimed equally lamely that it shouldn't be fined because it didn't know its practices broke EU law.

The chuckling still echoes in the Commission's halls, I hear.

Microsoft says it will appeal (of course) so the case could drag on for a few more years (of course). But since, unlike the US, the top levels of the EU seem more concerned about monopolies than with finding a way to let Gates off the hook, this could be a case of running the giant to ground. We can hope.

Footnote: This came after Microsoft announced on February 26 it was going to drop a provision in its Japanese contracts which required Japanese computer makers such as NEC, Hitachi, and Sony to sign away their right to sue the Gates boys - even if Microsoft steals their patented technology - in order to be allowed to pre-install Windows on the units they sell.

MS claimed it was acting for "customer satisfaction" reasons. It was, no doubt, pure coincidence that the announcement came shortly after Japanese fair trade officials raided its Tokyo offices on suspicion of violating anti-monopoly laws.