Massachusetts, the lone holdout in the Microsoft antitrust settlement, said on Friday that the software giant may be engaging in "troubling" new efforts to crush its rivals.
Massachusetts, the last state opposing the settlement with the federal government approved by US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, said in a court filing that the settlement had failed to rein in Microsoft's anticompetitive conduct, and may not be able to do so.
"We have continued to receive and review indications that Microsoft is engaged in troubling business behavior," state Attorney General Thomas Reilly said in the filing.
"None of our completed investigations have shown such behavior to be effectively cabined by the court's existing prohibitions," he said.
Massachusetts, among several states involved in the initial suit against Microsoft, is pressing for a tougher settlement of the charges of monopoly abuse.
The court document said there had been "allegations that Microsoft is currently engaged in a campaign against various internet search engines similar to the campaign it previously waged against Netscape's Navigator browser."
It said Microsoft may be preparing to launch an offensive against document software such as Adobe Acrobat, a popular tool for Internet documents.
"If Microsoft is taking steps to hobble the competitive effectiveness of these rival products and thereby supplant them, such serial killing of competing technologies is a serious and troubling prospect," the document said.
"It also, however, seems unlikely that this conduct ... could be stopped by the limited scope of this court's standing decree.
The plan accepted by the federal judge endorsed most of a settlement already reached last year between Microsoft and the government, ending a four-year battle over the company's illegal squelching of competitors.
The settlement imposed no financial penalty, but it forced billionaire Bill Gates's software giant to disclose more technical information and barred anti-competitive agreements on Microsoft products.
The US Department of Justice said in a separate filing that it had some concerns about the levels of licensing by Microsoft but that the company appeared to be in compliance with the deal.
"Microsoft has made full compliance with its obligations under the final judgments a top priority of the company, and the company continues to devote substantial resources to its compliance work," the department's document said.
Earlier in the week, Microsoft agreed to make changes in its Windows XP operating system to satisfy government concerns that it steered users seeking online music to Microsoft's web browser.
The Justice Department said the "Shop for Music Online" feature in Windows XP invoked Microsoft's Internet Explorer even when the user has chosen a different default web browser, such as Netscape, Opera, or Mozilla, in violation of the settlement accepted by the judge in November 2002.
PATENTS: MediaTek Inc said it would not comment on ongoing legal cases, but does not expect the legal action by Huawei to affect its business operations Smartphone integrated chips designer MediaTek Inc (聯發科) on Friday said that a lawsuit filed by Chinese smartphone brand Huawei Technologies Co (華為) over alleged patent infringements would have little impact on its operations. In an announcement posted on the Taiwan Stock Exchange, MediaTek said that it would not comment on an ongoing legal case. However, the company said that Huawei’s legal action would have little impact on its operations. MediaTek’s statement came after China-based PRIP Research said on Thursday that Huawei filed a lawsuit with a Chinese district court claiming that MediaTek infringed on its patents. The infringement mentioned in the lawsuit likely involved
Taipei is today suspending work, classes and its US$2.4 trillion stock market as Typhoon Gaemi approaches Taiwan with strong winds and heavy rain. The nation is not conducting securities, currency or fixed income trading, statements from its stock and currency exchanges said. Authorities had yesterday issued a warning that the storm could affect people on land and canceled some ship crossings and domestic flights. Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) expects its local chipmaking fabs to maintain normal production, the company said in an e-mailed statement. The main chipmaker for Apple Inc and Nvidia Corp said it has activated routine typhoon alert
GROWTH: TSMC increased its projected revenue growth for this year to more than 25 percent, citing stronger-than-expected demand for AI devices and smartphones The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER, 台灣經濟研究院) yesterday raised its forecast for Taiwan’s GDP growth this year from 3.29 percent to 3.85 percent, as exports and private investment recovered faster than it predicted three months ago. The Taipei-based think tank also expects that Taiwan would see a 8.19 percent increase in exports this year, better than the 7.55 percent it projected in April, as US technology giants spent more money on artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure and development. “There will be more AI servers going forward, but it remains to be seen if the momentum would extend to personal computers, smartphones and
Catastrophic computer outages caused by a software update from one company have once again exposed the dangers of global technological dependence on a handful of players, experts said on Friday. A flawed update sent out by the little-known security firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc brought airlines, TV stations and myriad other aspects of daily life to a standstill. The outages affected companies or individuals that use CrowdStrike on the Microsoft Inc’s Windows platform. When they applied the update, the incompatible software crashed computers into a frozen state known as the “blue screen of death.” “Today CrowdStrike has become a household name, but not in