Simon Taylor

Prospects of a legal battle between the German government and the European Commission over a new network for online access to World Cup football matches moved a step closer.

Microsoft Corp. launched a last-ditch attempt to stave off the threat of million-dollar-a-day fines on Wednesday when it submitted its formal response to European Commission charges that it is failing to comply with an antitrust ruling. In a statement accompanying the submission, the company said that it had fully complied with the Commission's demands.

One day ahead of the deadline for explaining why it believes it has complied with the European Commission's antitrust ruling against it, Microsoft Corp.'s top European lawyer said on Tuesday that the company is confident that it has met or exceeded all of the Commission's demands.

Microsoft Corp. moved a step closer to being fined about

Microsoft Corp. has written to the European Commission to complain that the company is being denied the normal rights to defense in its antitrust case. In a letter sent to the Commission on Monday, a Microsoft lawyer said that the Commission was "seriously prejudicing Microsoft's rights of defense" in the ongoing antitrust case by denying the company access to certain files relating to the case.

The European Commission has given Microsoft Corp. five weeks to comply with its March 2004 antitrust ruling on workgroup server interoperability, or face daily fines of

The European Union's request for comments on an effective way to protect intellectual property in Europe has prompted fears of a renewed attempt to allow software to be patented, after an earlier patents initiative was blocked last year. n

Microsoft Corp. has agreed to license the source code for communications protocols in its Windows server software in a bid to avoid being fined