12-22-2005

紐約法院傳喚公交罷工領袖 (New York Court Summons Transit Strike Leaders)

紐約法官星期四傳喚紐約罷工的公交系統領袖到庭，威脅要因為他們號召地鐵和公車員工罷工而把他們送入監獄。罷工使這座美國最大的城市陷入混亂。西奧多.瓊斯法官星期三說，他可能會以3名罷工領袖無視禁止公共事業人員罷工的州法而把他們送入監獄。工會已經被令在罷工期間每天支付100萬美元的罰款。罷工到星期四進入第3天。

罷工導致紐約龐大的地鐵和公共汽車系統癱瘓，影響了數百萬人的日常交通。紐約著名的商店、百貨公司、餐館、博物館和劇院的業務嚴重受挫。罷工正值耶誕節前的購物旺季，當地經濟的損失每天達數億美元。紐約州長和市長都表示，罷工工人必須首先回到工作崗位，然後才能恢復同工會的談判。

A judge has ordered leaders of New York City's striking transit union into court Thursday, threatening to jail them for calling the subway and bus walkout that has thrown the nation's largest city into chaos. The Judge Theodore Jones said Wednesday he may send the top three union leaders to prison for defying a state law that prohibits strikes by public workers. The union already has been ordered to pay a one-million-dollars-a-day fine for the duration of the walkout, which is now in its third day.

The strike has shut down New York's huge subway and bus network, crippling normal travel arrangements for millions of people. Business is down sharply at the city's famous shops and department stores, as well as at restaurants, museums and theaters. With the strike coming during the city's busiest shopping period, just before Christmas, its daily cost to the local economy is measured in hundreds of millions of dollars. New York State Governor George Pataki and the city's mayor, Michael Bloomberg say the strikers must return to work before negotiations with the union can resume.

歐盟威脅對微軟處以新罰款 (EU Threatens Microsoft with New Fine)

歐洲聯盟指責美國微軟公司違反去年做出的一項反托拉斯裁決，威脅說要每天對微軟科以罰款。歐盟官員星期四說，這家軟體業巨頭沒有向競爭對手提供技術細節，以使他們能根據視窗作業系統進行軟體開發。

歐盟監督委員會發現微軟到目前為止所提供的資料完全無法被其他公司所利用。歐盟競爭委員會給微軟5個星期的時間來執行有關裁決，否則每天將對其處以230萬美元的罰款。

在2004年3月，歐盟裁定微軟濫用其市場壟斷地位，並對該公司科以5億多美元的罰款。

The European Union has threatened to impose daily fines on Microsoft for allegedly violating an antitrust ruling imposed last year. EU officials said Thursday the American software giant had failed to provide technical details to competitors that would allow them to tailor their programs to the Windows operating system.

An EU monitoring committee found the documentation supplied by Microsoft so far was totally unfit for other software companies to use. The EU Competition Commission gave Microsoft five weeks to comply with the order, or face a daily penalty of two-point-three million dollars.

In March 2004, the European Union ruled that Microsoft was abusing its dominant market position, and fined the company more than half-a-billion dollars.