A hearing date of June 3-5 has been set for Microsoft to offer oral arguments against the European Commission's browser accusations that bundling IE with Windows is a prima facie antitrust violation. Paidcontent.org, however, says Microsoft may skip the hearing and simply bend its neck to the inevitable axe. It said Microsoft said it only asked for the hearing to preserve its right to one. It filed its written response to the anticompetitive charges last week. The company is braced for a "significant fine based on worldwide sales of Windows operating systems," according to its 10-Q, as well as an order telling it to accommodate other browsers although the market seems to have done that already. The Internet Institute puts Internet Explorer's market share at 58.1% in Europe in January.