EU Trustbusters Continuing To Watch Microsoft

From deep within the 15-nation European Union (EU), antitrust officials are likely to keep a close eye on Microsoft Corp. regardless of the outcome of the U.S. government's anti-monopoly case against the Redmond, Wash.-based computer-software maker. In addition to the European Commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, the Office of Fair Trading in the UK -- which has a set of rules similar to the principles of America's 1890 Sherman Antitrust Act -- "has become extremely active recently," notes Michael D. Hausfeld, a senior partner at Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld & Toll PLLC, Washington. And both the Italian and German antitrust enforcers "have been highly active," he adds.