Microsoft Judgement to Be Extended by Two Years

On May 12, the DOJ told the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia that it is necessary to extend the term of certain portions of the Microsoft final judgment by at least two years. The DOJ said that an extension is necessary due to Microsoft's difficulty in improving the technical documentation it provides to licensees. Section III.E of the final judgment requires that Microsoft make available to competing server software developers, on reasonable and non-discriminatory terms, certain technology used by Microsoft to make its server operating systems interoperate with client PCs running the Windows operating system. The DOJ has stated that its goal is to make the technical documentation being developed by Microsoft as consistent as possible under the final judgment in the United States and under the licensing program provided for by the decision of the European Commission.