Microsoft Corp, the American multinational computer technology corporation, appealed the record fine of 899 million euros ($1.4 billion) imposed by the European Union nearly two moths ago.

The world's largest software producer filed the appeal at the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg (the second-highest court in the European Union) according to Microsoft spokesman Jesse Verstraete.

In a "constructive effort”, Microsoft is attempting to seek clarity from the court, added Verstraete in a statement released via e-mail.

The European Commission imposed the fine on Feb. 27 after Microsoft failed to act in accordance with a 2004 antitrust order.

"There's a fairly good record of the court lowering fines the commission has made upon appeal," Philip Marsden, a competition lawyer and senior research fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, told The Chicago Tribune.

Besides the fine, the European Commission ordered Microsoft to provide data to rivals to allow servers to connect to the Windows platform.

Although the fine was the highest ever imposed by the European Commission in an antitrust case, it still was only 60% of the maximum fine the commission can apply.

The European Commission is investigating Microsoft on two accounts of monopolistic behavior. The investigations started after Microsoft was accused of keeping out rival Sun Microsystems Inc. by not releasing the code needed to make Sun's computers work with those of Microsoft. The software giant was also accused of abusing its monopoly position by bundling media-player software into its operating system.