Microsoft judge demands compliance reports

The attorneys general overseeing the antitrust compliance case against Microsoft must file progress reports every six months, district court judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ruled yesterday.

The first report is due on 3 July. The twice-yearly reports are to include a general description of what Microsoft is doing to comply with terms of the final judgment, including how it is meeting compliance timelines and the extent to which it is complying, as well as a general description of efforts by the plaintiffs to monitor compliance.

The report is also to include a description of complaints received in the previous six months by Microsoft, plaintiffs or the technical committee set up to oversee implementation of the final judgment provisions.

Information on complaints about compliance must include the number and types of complaints, how many have been resolved, how many that are unresolved are not yet being investigated, how many are still under investigation and the number of complaints that had no merit.

The District Court entered a final judgment on the case last November, with Microsoft agreeing to a number of remedies aimed at curbing its anticompetitive behaviour in the PC operating system market.

The remedies order Microsoft, among other requirements, not to retaliate against computer makers who offer competing software products, and to offer to license intellectual property rights to computer makers before the final versions of Windows are released.