Brussels, 11/10/2001 (Agence Europe) - The American computer giant Microsoft may see itself being inflicted with a hefty fine on the part of the European Commission for anti-competitive practices. In its statement of grievances, the contents of which were revealed in the Wall Street Journal, the Commission accuses the American group of having sought to "obstruct" its examination and having "lied" to the investigators by producing 34 letters from companies pleading in its favour. Yet, these letters are said to have been written by Microsoft itself, or it had asked companies to do so without the latter being informed of the purpose. You may recall that end-August, the Commission had sent Microsoft a letter of grievances as it suspects the company of taking advantage of its dominant position on the operating systems market in an attempt to dominate the server market too (see EUROPE of 31 August, p.6). Meanwhile, Microsoft secured a deadline for submitting its reply which, according to European legislation, must be submitted to the European Executive within two months of the date of reception of the letter of grievances. Asked about this on Wednesday, Commissioner Mario Monti "deeply regretted" the leak of this information that ought to have remained confidential. According to him, it is totally "premature", at this stage, to speak of a fine, even though it "remains a possibility". A Microsoft Europe official, for his part, declared: "We're co-operating fully with the Commission. We have not done anything to violate the anti-trust laws, or obstruct their investigation. But we're not going to comment on the substance of confidential matters".