Seven states on Friday dropped out of the antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft Corp., leaving only Massachusetts and possibly West Virginia to appeal a landmark settlement between the computer software giant and the federal government.
Massachusetts appealed a federal judge’s decision accepting the settlement, which its attorney general criticized as a “loophole-filled deal” that won’t affect the softwaremaker’s aggressive practices.
“We are prepared to go it alone,” said Massachusetts Atty. Gen. Tom Reilly.
Seven other states and the District of Columbia plan no court action, said Iowa’s attorney general, Tom Miller, who has been coordinating the antitrust fight since the Bush administration negotiated the settlement last year.
Officials in West Virginia indicated they will decide on Monday whether to appeal.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly this month accepted nearly all the provisions of the settlement between the government and Microsoft.
She rebuffed arguments that tougher sanctions were essential to restore competition in the computer industry and concluded that some penalties proposed by the holdout states would chiefly benefit the company’s rivals.
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the company remained focused on complying fully with Kollar-Kotelly’s judgment.
But, Reilly said, “There’s nothing in the deal with Justice that will change Microsoft’s business practices in any substantial way.”
Some legal scholars say Massachusetts faces an uphill fight in trying to convince the appellate judges that Kollar-Kotelly erred in her decision.
“If I were making the call for Massachusetts, I would say, `We’ve fought the good fight, now let’s move on to other problems,”‘ said Southwestern University law professor Lawrence Sullivan, who advised the federal government in bringing the suit against Microsoft.
Connecticut Atty. Gen. Richard Blumenthal said the decision “demonstrates both resolve and resources–each essential to enforce hard-won remedies against any recurrence of Microsoft’s anti-consumer lawbreaking.”
“Our antitrust lawsuit has always been about protecting consumers and businesses and stopping Microsoft from illegally stifling innovation and strangling competition,” he said. “Consumer interests are now best served by turning our focus to enforcement.”
Blumenthal also said Microsoft has agreed to pay $28.6 million to the states, about $25 million to cover legal costs and fees and $3.6 million for future enforcement and compliance.
The other states that said they wouldn’t appeal the judgment are Florida, Kansas, Minnesota and Utah.
Microsoft still faces a series of class-action lawsuits brought on behalf of consumers, along with civil suits brought by Sun Microsystems Inc. and other competitors who claim they were victimized by the company’s anti-competitive tactics.
