http://www.nytimes.com/2001/11/01/technology/01SOFT.html Justice Department and Microsoft Agree on Most of Settlement Pact By STEPHEN LABATON with STEVE LOHR WASHINGTON, Oct. 31 — The Justice Department and the Microsoft Corporation (news/quote) have reached a tentative agreement to settle the long-running antitrust suit against the company, people involved in the talks said today. The proposed agreement, some details of which were being resolved late this evening, was presented by Charles A. James, the assistant attorney general in charge of the antitrust division, to a group of state attorneys general meeting in Washington for their consideration. In meetings expected to last through the evening, the state officials were pressing the Bush administration to impose tougher conditions on Microsoft than it had proposed. State officials were also assessing whether they would agree to a deal or break with the Justice Department and try to upset the preliminary agreement. The agreement, which came after three weeks of mediation, cannot become effective unless it is approved by a federal court. Rival companies and consumer groups said tonight that they were certain to oppose it as ineffective. A crucial issue is whether the 18 states that joined the Microsoft suit can be persuaded to agree to any settlement or will oppose it. The states have taken the hardest line against Microsoft, especially after the Bush administration inherited the case. An earlier effort under the Clinton administration to settle the case was scuttled under pressure from the states. [...] ------------------------------------------------------------------------- POLITECH -- Declan McCullagh's politics and technology mailing list You may redistribute this message freely if you include this notice. Declan McCullagh's photographs are at http://www.mccullagh.org/ To subscribe to Politech: http://www.politechbot.com/info/subscribe.html This message is archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ -------------------------------------------------------------------------
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