The Washington Post
WASHINGTON — Microsoft Corp.’s prospects for a quick conclusion to its long-running antitrust trial diminished Tuesday when prosecutors from nine states and the District of Columbia said they would not go along with a settlement already approved by the company and the Department of Justice.
Nine other states have joined the federal government in backing the agreement, they told U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in a proceeding on Tuesday. The 19 jurisdictions had joined the federal government in the original litigation against Microsoft.
The division means Kollar-Kotelly will let the case proceed on two tracks: setting up hearings on the settlement while also setting a schedule for the states’ anti-trust case to continue.
The states spent this weekend reviewing the proposed settlement, which was presented to the court on Friday. The original draft outlines several restrictions on Microsoft’s conduct in terms of its control over the Windows desktop, its disclosure of its source code or blueprints, and its licensing agreements.
The states had proposed nearly a dozen changes such as extending the duration of the restrictions from five to 10 years and providing more expansive and clearer definitions of the technologies in question.
The changes were unavailable this morning. But attorney Phillip Beck, who represents the federal government, told the court that the modifications so far have been "in the nature of clarifications."
The states, which were discussing changes and exchanging copies of proposals, asked the judge for a few more hours to decide how to proceed. At a hearing on Tuesday, it was announced that New York, Illinois, North Carolina, Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio, Wisconsin, Louisiana and Maryland had signed off on the deal.
Representatives for the states, including Connecticut and Iowa, suggested today that another round of settlement talks might be productive, but Microsoft balked.
"The issues in this case have been beaten to death, and they have been beaten to death by people who are worn out," said John Warden, outside counsel for the software giant. "Let me be as clear as I possibly can … . Microsoft believes the settlement process has come to an end."
Now that it is clear where the parties stand on settlement talks, the path for the rest of the case is set. Microsoft and the Justice Department will continue with advancing the settlement. The proposal will be published in the Federal Register later this month. The public will have 60 days to comment on it and a hearing on the topic will likely take place in early to mid-February.
The states who are against the settlement will proceed with a separate lawsuit, said Brendan Sullivan, who represents the attorneys general.
"Those states are very troubled by the agreement," he said. "I can say with absolute certainty that my clients are willing to continue with the process."
Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly has previously said he would not sign it without major changes and dismissed the old version as a "license for Microsoft to use its dominance and power to crush its competition."
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