Microsoft defends itself at EU antitrust hearings

Microsoft lawyers today said the US software giant had lived up to European Union antitrust demands at the start of a two-day hearing with EU regulators in an attempt to avoid new fines.

Company lawyer Brad Smith, arriving at the Brussels hearing, said fines were “not the answer”, adding that Microsoft had gone beyond complying with the EU’s 2004 antitrust ruling that ordered it to share information with other software firms.