EU Moves Towards Microsoft Antitrust Fines

The European Commission has refused to review documents Microsoft says are essential to its defense against antitrust charges.

Microsoft says that the European Commission has refused to consider its plea that it review documents the company says are fundamental to appealing antitrust charges levied against it. Representatives from the Redmond software giant expressed disappointment, opining that the Commission’s decision sets a negative precedent for other companies conducting business in the EU.

EU spokesman Jonathan Todd described the documents as correspondence between Microsoft and an appointed third-party antitrust monitor, Neil Barrett, and that hearing officer Karen Williams had not found they were relevant to Microsoft’s defense.

Williams also refused Microsoft’s appeal for a second extension to the European Commission’s deadline to comply with antitrust requirements of face fines of up to