Microsoft has submitted a lengthy defense in the latest European antitrust case it faces, saying its practice of bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser with the Windows operating system did not violate European law.
Microsoft filed the response of roughly 250 pages to European competition authorities late Tuesday. It also asked regulators for a closed-door hearing in the case, according to a person with knowledge of the document.
The European Commission, acting on a complaint by Opera, a Norwegian Web browser maker, said in January that the practice violated European law. In its written response to the commission, Microsoft said that its share of the browser market had fallen and that the company was no longer as dominant.
Jesse Verstraete, a Microsoft spokesman in Brussels, declined to comment.
The Microsoft Windows operating system powers more than 90 percent of the world’s computers, according to the research firm Gartner. Net Applications, another research firm, says Microsoft has a 66.8 percent share of the global browser market.
Lawyers for Opera say they will present other statistics showing that Microsoft’s browser share in Europe is closer to 85 percent.
Opera filed the complaint with the European authorities in December 2007, months after Microsoft dropped its appeal of a 2004 European Commission ruling that it had violated E.U. law by bundling its Windows Media Player program with its operating system.