The European Commission is investigating how much Microsoft Corp. could unfairly benefit by hiring a key EU official who took a leave of absence to join the computer software giant, officials said Thursday. German Detlef Eckert was at the heart of the department that plots the Internet and information technology strategy for the 15-nation bloc before moving to Microsoft, where he will take up his position next week. The European Commission has an antitrust case going against Microsoft, accusing the U.S. company of abusing its dominance of the market for PC operating systems to muscle its way into related markets for media and server software.
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