After being granted two extensions to respond to anti-trust allegations against it in Europe regarding its web browser, Microsoft has now cancelled its oral hearing scheduled for the start of June. In a Thursday blog post, Microsoft's Associate General Counsel David Heiner explains a number of the key decision-makers in the matter won't attend, as the date coincides with the International Competition Network (ICN) meeting in Zurich.

The hearing is to be held in Brussels, while the ICN is in Zurich. Microsoft says it raised concerns when the European Commission first set the date. "We believe that holding the hearing at a time when key officials are out of the country would deny Microsoft our effective right to be heard and hence deny our 'rights of defense' under European law," Heiner blogged.

Early in 2009, Microsoft received a Statement of Objection from the European Commission that said the software giant has broken European competition laws by bundling its Windows operating systems exclusively with its Internet Explorer browser. [via ZDNet]