Microsoft has lost its appeal against a record 497m euro (approx: $690m) fine imposed by the European Commission. The European Court of First Instance upheld the ruling that Microsoft had abused its dominant market position.

A probe concluded in 2004 that Microsoft was guilty of freezing out rivals in server software and products such as media players. Microsoft has two months to appeal at the European Court of Justice.

The 2004 ruling ordered Microsoft to ensure its products could operate with other computer systems by sharing information with rival software companies. It was also ordered to make a version of its Windows operating system available without Microsoft's Media Player software. Monday's ruling upheld that order.

Last year, Microsoft was told to pay daily fines adding up to 280.5 million euros over a six-month period, after it failed to adhere to the 2004 decision. via BBC

It is beyond doubt that Microsoft abused its near-monopoly position to control the market and weed out competition in US and elsewhere. It is to be seen whether such rulings can really force Microsoft to mend its ways. Personally I doubt it. Maybe a fine of 10-15 billion dollars can help, but 690 million dollars is really pocket change for Microsoft.