Bonn, Germany  - German's main competition agency, the Federal Cartel Office, fined US software company Microsoft 9 million euros (12 million dollars) Wednesday for imposing a retail price for its Office Home & Student 2007 software.

Microsoft said it would pay the fine to avoid a lengthy legal dispute and was reviewing its internal processes in Germany to ensure they complied with German law in future.

The Bonn-based agency said Microsoft had harmed free competition by exerting improper influence on the selling price of the software through a major chain, which was not identified in the announcement. (dpa)