Judge rubber stamps most of Microsoft settlement

A federal judge Friday accepted almost all of a proposed settlement in Microsoft’s antitrust case with the U.S. Justice Department. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said sanctions against the software giant are to last five years unless extended by the court. “The court is satisfied that the parties have reached a settlement which comports with the public interest,” Kollar-Kotelly wrote. The settlement “is conditionally approved as the final judgment in this case,” the judge wrote. The approved settlement requires Microsoft to disclose some “sensitive technology” to its rivals months earlier than the company and the Justice Department had proposed. Gee, that’ll teach ’em, huh? The decision is available at the district court’s Web site here.