14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft will continue to be held on a short monopoly leash for almost two more years, until 2009. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has finally issued a ruling on January 29, essentially expanding the court oversight of Microsoft. The oversight, which began in 2002 as a direct consequence of a landmark antitrust settlement against the Redmond company, was initially set to expire at the end of 2007. In the past year, a fragment of the consent decree, focused on the technical documentation that Microsoft needed to provide to competitors on the server market, had already been prolonged for another two years. The latest decision from Kollar-Kotelly is meant to extend the expiring terms consent decree until Nov. 12, 2009, that's another 18 months.
"The Court's decision in this matter is based upon the extreme and unforeseen delay in the availability of complete, accurate, and useable technical documentation relating to the Communications Protocols that Microsoft is required to make available to licensees under Section III.E of the Final Judgments. The Court concludes that the Moving States have met their burden of establishing that this delay constitutes changed circumstances, which have prevented the Final Judgments from achieving their principal objectives. As such, the Court shall extend until November 12, 2009 those provisions of the Final Judgments that are not already extended until that date, thus making all provisions of the Final Judgments coterminous," Kollar-Kotelly stated.
In this context, Microsoft will have to comply with another 18 months of court oversight, despite the fact that the company had argued that the extension was not necessary. But in the end, Microsoft has got off easy as a group of ten states required the oversight to be enforced for another five years, until 2012. Kollar-Kotelly emphasized that the conclusion was not a sanction against the Redmond company, but simply a means to an end and, in this regard, a way to ensure that Microsoft fulfills its obligations.
Microsoft, through the voice of general counsel Brad Smith, revealed that it would fully comply with the ruling. "We will continue to comply fully with the consent decree. We are gratified that the court recognized our extensive efforts to work cooperatively with the large number of government agencies involved. We built Windows Vista in compliance with these rules, and we will continue to adhere to the decree's requirements," Smith said.