Microsoft Antitrust: U.S. Judge Agrees to Oversight Extension

Microsoft on Wednesday saw U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly agree to a two-year government-oversight extension of its business practices until November 2009, the Associated Press reports via the New York Post.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly also asked representatives of the Department of Justice (DoJ) to back up its finding that the design of Microsoft’s upcoming Internet Explorer browser does not violate antitrust regulations, according to the AP, as was suggested to the court by search rival Google. For more, read Google Searches for Fight With New MS Browser.

Attorneys representing the DoJ said they would extend its oversight of Microsoft until 2012 if needed, according to the AP.

Microsoft previously said it would accept an extension, which was requested by the DoJ and attorneys general representing 17 states, the AP reports.

Since its 2002 antitrust settlement with the U.S. government, Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft has been unsuccessfully attempting to meet a provision that ordered the company to disclose sensitive technology documentation so competitors could develop machines that effectively communicate with PCs running on Microsoft’s Windows operating system.

Judge Kollar-Kotelly said she is unsure of whether Microsoft is devoting sufficient attention to its obligation under the settlement with the DoJ, because of another ongoing antitrust suit filed by the European Commission, according to the AP.

“We started earlier, and I’m not going to be stuck going into 2012 because the European Commission got something faster,” Kollar-Kotelly said, according to the AP.

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