Attorney General Seeks Extension Of Microsoft Judgment
Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today, along with five other states and the District of Columbia, asked that a federal court judge extend the Final Judgment in the Microsoft case for another five years because the company has maintained its illegal monopoly.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Attorney General Richard Blumenthal today, along with five other states and the District of Columbia, asked that a federal court judge extend the Final Judgment in the Microsoft case for another five years because the company has maintained its illegal monopoly.
In 2002, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia imposed a five-year court decree intended to stop the company's aggressive monopolist hold on the software market. Most of that final judgment expires in November, but the company's anticompetitive threat persists, the attorneys general said.
In an oral presentation today, a multi-state group told the court that the final judgment must be extended another five years to address computer operating systems that are just now emerging, and counter Microsoft's anticompetitive practices.
Microsoft's newest operating system, "Vista," will only be less than a year old when the judgment is scheduled to expire - inadequate time to monitor Vista and ensure that Microsoft has adequately addressed continuing anticompetitive concerns.
"The five-year judgment is five years too short - inadequate to monitor and fight Microsoft's monopolistic stranglehold on the market," Blumenthal said. "Microsoft's new Vista operating system has barely emerged, and already has threatened to undermine competing desktop search options. While the court-imposed remedies have allowed competitors to surface, they are only beginning to compete, and must be given more time to mature. Innovation and competition clearly depend on continued market monitoring by the court and others. Our multi-state group is calling on the court to continue its oversight for five more years in order to fully protect consumers and the competitive market in a most vital industry."
The attorneys general have said that Microsoft maintains monopolies in Intel-compatible PC operating systems and in web browsers, and has significantly increased its competitive position in computer server operating systems. Microsoft's Windows operating system still controls 92 percent of the Intel-compatible PC operating system market, the attorneys general said.
While Microsoft's Internet Explorer web browser has experienced some emerging competition from browsers like Firefox, Microsoft still enjoys an 85 percent share of the web browser market. And Microsoft's share of the server operating system market has actually increased from 55 percent in 2002 to 72 percent in 2006, the attorneys general said.
The attorneys general said in a recent filing that Microsoft has already demonstrated its continuing anticompetitive threat in undermining rival "desktop search" products, including Google's Desktop Search.
It was only after Connecticut and several other states raised concerns about Microsoft's actions, which potentially violated its court-order, that the company agreed to significant changes to a feature in Windows Vista that would enable consumer to choose from competing desktop search engines.
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