Microsoft's chief executive met the European Union competition czar on Tuesday, in a dramatic final bid to settle a landmark antitrust case, eight days before Brussels was set to rule against the U.S. software giant.
Disclosing no details after the surprise talks--between Microsoft's Steve Ballmer and Brad Smith, general counsel, and EU Competition Commissioner Mario Monti--both sides said only that the dialogue would continue.
"Yes, there's been a meeting today. Discussions are ongoing. That's all I'll say," Monti's spokeswoman, Amelia Torres, told reporters.
"Discussions are ongoing," echoed Tom Brookes, a Microsoft spokesman.
The negotiations came at the moment of maximum leverage for Monti, a day after EU governments threw their weight behind a draft ruling that would find that Microsoft broke antitrust law and require it to change the way it sells audiovisual software.
On Monday, the 15 EU member countries are set to endorse a fine that's expected to run into the hundreds of millions of euros, and on March 24, the full European Commission is due to approve a ruling that would find that Microsoft illegally abused its market dominance to crush smaller rivals.
If Ballmer and Smith can convince Monti to settle the case, there would be no legal finding against the company.
Twice before, in 1994 and 1997, the Commission settled charges against Microsoft without a formal ruling.
The decision may be Monti's toughest in his five years as the EU's top competition regulator. If he settles, Monti would avoid the certainty of a Microsoft challenge in European courts, which have overturned several of his department's rulings in the last two years.
But past settlements have not altered Microsoft's business practices in Europe enough to avoid new charges.
If Monti rejects a deal, he would gain a precedent-setting ruling that could make future action against Microsoft easier. But the case could be tied up for years in the Luxembourg-based courts, while the disputed practices continue.
Tuesday's meeting was not announced, but word spread, and a clutch of reporters and camera crews huddled outside the green steel-and-glass building that housed the Commission's Competition directorate during the hours-long meeting.
Ballmer and Smith appeared spirited both entering and leaving the building.
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