It's a good thing Microsoft has tons and tons of money, because they keep finding themselves in a position where they've got to pay out -- big time. Such is the case today, where the European Commission has fined the monolithic company €899 million (or $1.35 billion) due to failure to comply with a 2004 ruling on monopolistic business practices. The Commission found that the folks in Redmond had been guilty of -- gasp! -- freezing out competition by not providing "vital information" to rival software companies. This isn't the first time it's had to pay, as the company already dropped $357 million on the case back in 2006. "Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy that the Commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision," said Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. Perhaps Ballmer and co. saw this one coming when they went "open" last week, though we're fairly confident this kind of fine carries only the slightest sting for the software giant.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]

As part of their investigation into the company's alleged abuse of its market position at the expense of rival AMD, EU competition regulators have raided chip giant Intel's offices in Munich, Germany, along with those of Metro AG-owned Media Markt and other unnamed PC retailers. The European Commission has been keeping a close eye on Intel since last summer, when the company was formally accused of offering rebates and making payoffs to customers and retailers in exchange for preferential treatment -- charges that Intel has repeatedly, although somewhat obtusely, denied. It's not clear at this point what material, if anything, was confiscated in these latest raids, which come exactly a month prior to a closed hearing the megacorp faces on this matter in Brussels.

[Via BBC]

Sure, most of the Microsoft antitrust action is going down in Europe nowadays, but Uncle Sam's lingering judgment against Redmond is still kicking around -- Judge Colleen Kollar Kotelly (remember her?) just issued a ruling extending the consent decree against Microsoft for another two years. The judge said that the company has been extremely cooperative with the government thus far, but that "the extreme and unforeseen delay" in acquiring technical documentation from Bill and the boys requires that monitoring continue. That pretty much leaves things at the status quo, although we're not exactly holding our breath for anything to change once the consent judgment actually does expire.

Even with its highly visible attempts to clean up its image, "embrace" open standards and play "nice" with the Linux kids, Microsoft is still in the dog house as far as a California-led coalition of states is concerned. They want to extend court oversight of Microsoft, which is currently set to expire this November, for another five years, to make sure the software giant continues to comply with the anti-trust settlement reached back in 2002. Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Massachusetts and the District of Columbia are all in on the action, no word yet on how it'll all play out.

Those price fixing allegations that AMD and NVIDIA were facing late last year may have vanished from the forefront of your memory, but you can rest assured that the legal teams connected to the two are still workin' overtime to clean things up. Apparently, NVIDIA has been slapped with as many as 51 civil complaints over "price fixing and anti-competitive agreements, among other things," and on its March 16th filing with the SEC, the firm states that "42 civil complaints as of March 14 were filed against it on the same allegations." Notably, the outfit did state that the "lawsuits are putative class-actions," and unsurprisingly felt that they were all lacking merit and would be fought vigorously. Tsk, Tsk.

[Via Gearlog]

We've certainly seen a variety of crashings go down on stage, but a determined protester and undeterred advocate for open source software rudely (albeit humorously) interrupted Bill Gates' speech at Peking University in Beijing, China. Gates, who was speaking on the topic of Innovation in China's future and receiving (yet another) honorary manager title, had his after-party all shook up by an off-kilter open source proponent who reportedly darted across the stage, "loudly shouted against Microsoft's monopoly," proudly displayed a sign of "Free software, open source," and was promptly "tackled by security and removed for questioning." It was suggested that the culprit may have been a member of the Linux Professional Institute, and while we're not exactly sure if Michael Dell would've shown any forgiveness, feel free click on through for a closeup of the sign and the unfortunate aftermath.

[Via SeattlePI, thanks Ralf]

Update: Reader Shawn W sent in a video of the proceedings! Check it out after the break.

While Monopoly is the paragon of good 'ole fashioned board game fun, the "old fashioned" part had to go. Parker Brothers is phasing out the cash-based version's funmoney and replacing it with an "Electronic Banking" flavor that could leave Mr. Moneybags turning his pockets inside out as his stash is replaced by a magnetic strip. New kits are completely devoid of the famous multi-colored bills; instead, you'll find phoney Visa debit cards and a calculator / reader which keeps a running tabulation of your riches -- or lack thereof. A deal was struck with Visa to design the mock cards and readers, presumably after surveys showed that 70% of adults used cash less often now than they did a decade ago (no surprise there). When asked about the dramatic change, Parker said replacing cash with plastic "showed the game was moving with the times." For those anxious to get their swipe on, or if you've simply forgotten how to use bills, the new version will set you back £24.99, while the now "antiquated" cash version can be had for £12.99, but only while supplies last.

Even though we've resigned ourselves to the fact that Windows Vista isn't coming out until it's good and ready, EU regulators aren't as forgiving as us when it comes to Microsoft playing the delay game, and have hit the software giant with a $357 million fine based on that 2004 anti-competition ruling. What's more, EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes has decided to slap the company with a three million euro-per-day fine starting on July 31st if the document disclosure stipulation of the original decision -- which requires Microsoft to make the Windows source code more accessible to rivals provide technical information to makers of competing server software -- has not been fulfilled. Redmond, for its part, claims that it has been fully cooperating with regulators; general counsel Brad Smith argues that the commission's original demand was too vague, and therefore the issue is not one of compliance but clarity. In the end, Microsoft can complain all day and night about unfair rulings and unclear requirements, but if it wants to continue having unfettered access to the lucrative European market, it seems the company has little choice but to toe the line on this one.