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Microsoft says it is meeting demands

Microsoft Corp said it had lived up to EU antitrust demands yesterday, at the start of a two-day hearing with regulators in an attempt to avoid new fines.

Microsoft lawyer Brad Smith, arriving at the hearing, said daily fines were "not the answer," adding that the US software maker had gone beyond complying with the EU's 2004 antitrust ruling that ordered it to share technical information with other software companies.

"We have complied and we are willing to do more," he said. "But we cannot do it alone."

"Interoperability in our industry happens through dialogue and engagement, not through fines," Smith said.

The EU has threatened to fine the company 2 million euros (US$2.4 million) a day backdated to Dec. 15, saying the technical manual Microsoft provided that month needed a radical overhaul to make it usable.

The hearing is Microsoft's last chance to defend itself before the EU decides whether to go ahead with the fines. It said there was no deadline for a decision.

Smith said Microsoft would tell the hearing that the technical manual that the independent monitor branded "unusable" met industry standards.

In a statement, Microsoft said six technology companies would tell the hearing that they were using the "useful and helpful" manual to create software compatible with Microsoft's products. It named four of them as EMC Corp, StarBak Communications Inc, Tandberg Television Ltd and Network Appliances.

Software producers involved in the case -- such as Sun Microsystems Inc, IBM Corp, Oracle Corp and Novell Inc -- and industry groups that back the EU case will also have a chance to speak at the hearing.

An EU antitrust official, Cecilio Madero Villarejo, said Microsoft had insisted these companies leave the room when the independent monitor -- computer science professor Neil Barrett -- shows extracts of Microsoft's technical documents. The company claimed this could break business confidentiality.
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