Microsoft loses out in EU antitrust case

In the latest twist to Microsoft's ongoing anti-trust wrangle with the EU, the software behemoth's requests for more time have been rebuffed by the EU competition commissioner. Mario Monti has offered the company just 10 extra working days to sort themselves out.

According to reports, Microsoft had requested an extra two months to answer the new charges put to it, but the EU granted the company until 17 October to respond to the commission's allegations. The updated accusations from the EU, which took 20 months to compile, centre around the Redmond giant's alleged use of its dominance to leverage an unfair advantage in servers and multimedia software.

If found guilty, the EU could impose a fine of up to 10 per cent of the company's annual earnings – around €3bn – and order Microsoft to expose more of its code to competitors or change its selling strategy.

It's thought that Monti is keen to see the case – which has been trundling on for around four years - closed before he leaves office at the end of next year. Written replies to the charges are expected from Microsoft shortly.