The US Department of Justice reached a settlement with
Microsoft in 2002 over its unlawful use of its monopoly in personal
computer operating systems. Most of the terms of the settlement
expire in November.
The DoJ has just produced one of its regular assessments of the
success of the settlement and the degree to which Microsoft is
sticking to its terms. It said that Microsoft had kept to the
agreement and that the deal had promoted competition.
Attorneys general in six states and in the District of Columbia
disagree. "The remedies negotiated by the Department of Justice,
and imposed by the court, have had little or no discernible success
in restoring a competitive marketplace," Connecticut attorney
general Richard Blumenthal said in a statement.
Microsoft had been found to have used its dominant position in
the market for PC operating systems to ensure that computer
manufacturers install its, not other firms', software. The
dissenting states claim that the market is not more competitive now
than it was then.
The DoJ disagrees, and said in its report that the remedies
worked, and that the market is more competitive. The DoJ filing
said that since the settlement, of final judgments, was put
in place "there have been a number of developments in the
competitive landscape relating to middleware and to PC operating
systems generally that suggest that the Final Judgments are
accomplishing their stated goal of fostering competitive conditions
among middleware products, unimpeded by anticompetitive
exclusionary obstacles erected by Microsoft.”
"The final judgments have been successful in protecting the
development and distribution of middleware products and in
preventing Microsoft from continuing the type of exclusionary
behaviour that led to the original lawsuit,” said Thomas Barnett,
assistant attorney general at the DoJ's Antitrust Division. “The
Antitrust Division has made enforcement of the final judgments an
important priority and will continue to vigorously enforce the
antitrust laws in computer software markets.”
Microsoft general counsel said in a statement that the measures
had made Microsoft put in place some voluntary principles which
will continue to apply even when the settlement conditions expire
in March.
Earlier this year Google asked a court to extend the settlement
so that computer users would have a free choice of search products
that was not influenced by Microsoft operating systems.
