Originally brought by the US Department of Justice and 20 states, the antitrust action was largely settled in 2002 when Microsoft, the Justice Department and several states signed a judicially-approved settlement.
As part of the settlement, Microsoft is monitored for compliance with the agreement, and six-monthly reports are presented to District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly for her consideration. The latest of these was published on 19th October, with two issues being highlighted during Wednesday’s hearing.
The first related to Microsoft’s protocol analyser project, code-named “Troika”, which is intended to improve the accuracy of technical documentation provided to licensees under the settlement.
Unfortunately, the project, due to be completed by February 2006, is running well behind schedule, and is now not expected to be finished until at least October 2006.
“While Plaintiffs do not doubt that Microsoft has devoted significant resources to this project, it is now clear that Microsoft initially underestimated the complexity and difficulty of the project by a substantial degree,” says the report.
The Judge was not pleased with the news.
"If it's an issue of resources, then put them in," she told Microsoft during the hearing. "Do what it takes to get it done."
The company was also berated over an error in a marketing campaign that led to a draft specification being sent to a few manufacturers of portable music players, advising that if they wished to include a Microsoft CD with their product they would have to do so on an exclusive basis.
Microsoft amended the draft as soon as it received a complaint, and, according to CNET News, explained to the judge that the exclusivity provision had been the responsibility of "a low-level business person" who was not fully aware of the firm’s obligations.
Government lawyers and the Judge accepted that no further action was necessary, but Judge Kollar-Kotelly did express concern over the incident.
"It seems to me that at this date, you should not be having something like this occur," she said.
