US government 'lobbied EC' over Microsoft fine
Found on ZDNet on Tuesday, 26 September 2006
European Commissioner Neelie Kroes has revealed that the US Embassy pressured her over the Microsoft antitrust case
The US government sought to influence the European Commission over Microsoft's antitrust case, according to competition commissioner Neelie Kroes.
Kroes said the US embassy in Brussels had asked her to be "nicer" to Microsoft ahead of her decision to fine the software giant €280m in July.
The commissioner criticised the approach. "This is of course an intervention which is not possible," Kroes told Dutch newspaper Financieele Dagblad this week.
Looks like they haven't learned much since the Pirate Bay incident, where swedish police illegally raided an ISP thanks to the pressure from the US.