Brussels, Belgium (AHN) - Microsoft said Friday it is appealing the $1.4 billion antitrust fine imposed by European regulators. In a statement, the software giant said the appeal was a "constructive effort to seek clarity from the court."

In 1997 the European Union's Court of First Instance let the fine stand. The European Commission announced the fine after finding Microsoft failed to comply with the antitrust ruling for 488 days.

The antitrust ruling stemmed from Sun Microsystems' claims that Microsoft withheld information that would enable Sun and Microsoft systems to interoperate. The European Commission later found Microsoft operated a monopoly by including its media player in the widely-used Windows operating system,