[Am-info] Gov't, Microsoft Fight Over Online Music

[Mitch Stone]

Gov't, Microsoft Fight Over Online Music

20 October 2003, 10:00pm ET
By TED BRIDIS AP Technology Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Nearly a year after Microsoft Corp. agreed to end 
its anticompetitive conduct, the government is raising concerns the 
world's largest software maker is trying to use its dominant Windows 
operating system to influence where customers buy their music online.

If the dispute isn't resolved by week's end, it could become the first 
test of Microsoft's landmark antitrust settlement that was approved by 
a federal court in October 2002.

Lawyers for the Justice Department and 19 state attorneys general have 
formally complained to a federal judge about a design feature of 
Windows that compels consumers who buy music online to use only 
Microsoft's Internet browser and steers them to a Web site operated by 
the company.

Microsoft's design "may be inconsistent" with the settlement, 
government lawyers wrote in court papers asking U.S. District Judge 
Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to intervene if the problems aren't resolved.

The company said Monday it is willing to work with the government but 
does not believe the design is illegal. Online music purchases are 
expected to be one of the most-lucrative areas for Internet commerce.

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