IP-FLASH Justice Department and Microsoft Agree on Most of Settlement Pact

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/01/technology/01SOFT.html



WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 ^× The Justice Department and the Microsoft Corporation
(news/quote) have reached a tentative agreement to settle the long-running
antitrust suit against the company, people involved in the talks said today.
The proposed agreement, some details of which were being resolved late this
evening, was presented by Charles A. James, the assistant attorney general
in charge of the antitrust division, to a group of state attorneys general
meeting in Washington for their consideration. In meetings expected to last
through the evening, the state officials were pressing the Bush
administration to impose tougher conditions on Microsoft than it had
proposed. State officials were also assessing whether they would agree to a
deal or break with the Justice Department and try to upset the preliminary
agreement.
The agreement, which came after three weeks of mediation, cannot become
effective unless it is approved by a federal court. Rival companies and
consumer groups said tonight that they were certain to oppose it as
ineffective.
A crucial issue is whether the 18 states that joined the Microsoft suit can
be persuaded to agree to any settlement or will oppose it. The states have
taken the hardest line against Microsoft, especially after the Bush
administration inherited the case. An earlier effort under the Clinton
administration to settle the case was scuttled under pressure from the states.

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