Patricia Duarte

BRAZIL: Brazil's antitrust body CADE has fined Microsoft Brasil and its reseller in the federal district of Brasilia, TBA Informatica, for unfair competition.

In a unanimous decision, CADE said that Microsoft and TBA Informatica must pay 10 percent and seven percent respectively of their revenue from federal government business throughout Brazil in 1998.

"The values of the fines still have to be calculated and this will take some days," said Roberto Pfiffer, who handled the case for CADE.

TBA Informatica will appeal against the decision in a common court of law, said Fernando Rodrigues, the company's president, noting that TBA hadn't been condemned for unfair pricing.

"The TBA group last year earned 20 million reais from federal government business," he added.

In a statement, Microsoft said it was totally committed to operating lawfully. It noted that since 1998 it had appointed another reseller and ended the regionalization of resellers.

"It is Microsoft's priority to conduct its business in a respectful manner and in agreement with the laws and regulations of the countries it operates in," said Rinaldo Zangirolami, Senior Attorney of Microsoft Brasil.

A Microsoft Brasil spokesman said that the company was studying whether or not to appeal.

CADE said that the two companies should be added to the Consumers National Database of companies practicing unfair competition.

Pfiffer said that in nominating a single reseller in Brasilia, Microsoft prevented the federal government from buying its goods and services through tenders.

"Microsoft chose to sell its products through one reseller. If there had been more, there wouldn't be a problem," he said.

Companies excluded from federal government business in Brasilia filed a complaint against Microsoft and TBA in 1999.

However CADE's ruling covers the whole of Brazil.

The two companies will be liable to daily fines of between 6,000 and 30,000 reais if they delay publishing the ruling in mass circulation newspapers as required by law, CADE said.