Nine states reject Microsoft antitrust deal; court fight continues

Computerworld - WASHINGTON -- Nine of the 18 states involved in the Microsoft antitrust case agreed today to join the U.S. Department of Justice in settling the landmark case. But nine other states and Washington rejected the settlement and will continue litigation in pursuit of tougher terms.

Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, whose state is continuing litigation, called the Justice Department settlement "very good progress" but said it wasn't strong enough to prevent a "recurrence of violations" of law. "The settlement reached today reflects a triumph of hope over history," said Blumenthal. And "that history is due cause for caution."

Today's events, which occurred during the course of two separate hearings in U.S. District Court, mean that despite the settlement announced Friday by the Justice Department (see story), Microsoft will have to continue its court battle against the dissenting states in a series of remedy hearings scheduled to begin in March. Once those hearings are concluded, it will be U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's job to impose a remedy against Microsoft, which was found to have violated U.S. antitrust law by illegally maintaining its monopoly.

The nine states that settled, according to the states' lead trial counsel, Brendan Sullivan, are: Ohio, North Carolina, New York, Michigan, Kentucky, Illinois, Maryland, Louisiana and Wisconsin. The nine states that will continue litigation are: Iowa, Connecticut, California, Massachusetts, Florida, Kansas, Utah, Minnesota and West Virginia.

Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect, said in a statement that the decision by nine states to settle "is a very significant positive step toward resolving these issues once and for all.

"While this decree will place significant restrictions on our business, we believe this is a fair and reasonable settlement that will be good for consumers, good for the high tech industry and good for the economy," said Gates.

Several of the states are continuing to review the settlement, and they could eventually join the Justice Department in ending the fight, said Eric Green, the court-appointed mediator. However, there are no plans to continue efforts to bring all parties to agreement. "[We] have exhausted the limits of the possible for the present time," Green told the judge.

Kollar-Kotelly, who had urged both sides to reach agreement "in this time of rapid national change," praised the mediators and parties in the case and then laid out her next course of action. "You have made the effort that I asked you to do, and for that I commend you," she said.

Kollar-Kotelly will now take the case into what