EU Mulling Another Withdrawal From Microsoft Bank & Antitrust Co.

Microsoft has a far easier time meeting legal deadlines than software ship dates, doesn’t it? The European Commission today said the company met its deadline to respond to charges that its bundling of Internet Explorer with Windows violates European competition laws. Just how Microsoft (MSFT) responded isn’t known. The document hasn’t been made public and the EC would not comment on it, though presumably the software giant disagrees with the Commission’s contention that its behavior distorts fair competition in the browser market. Microsoft, which has been slapped with more than $2 billion in fines by the EC over time and would rather not be fined any further, is said to be requesting an hearing.