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 16th January and indicated ongoing concern over Microsoft's compliance.
The main concern revolves around the requirement that Microsoft share or licence on reasonable terms the software it uses for exchanging data between PCs and server versions of Windows, to help rivals make their products interoperable with its operating system.
When it first made the code available, Microsoft did so on terms that rival Sun Microsystems and others deemed unreasonable. Their concern is that Microsoft leverages its dominance of the PC operating system market to win dominance in the more contested server software market.
The Justice Department intervened and the licensing terms were eased. However, to date only eleven companies have signed up, and the most recent Report expresses concern that "the current licensing program has thus far fallen short of satisfying fully" the aims of the settlement.
On Friday, Microsoft announced that it would be making additional changes to its licensing programme.
The changes include shortening and simplifying the licence agreement, making approximately 20 protocols available without charge, making other protocols used to perform particular tasks available for a fixed fee or fixed fee per unit, and changing the evaluation program to provide prospective licensees with samples of the technical documentation with no confidentiality restrictions.
"We want to send a clear message to the industry," said Mary Snapp, corporate vice president and deputy general counsel for Microsoft.
"If you are interested in licensing these protocols, talk to us. If you have additional needs, we encourage you to contact us so we can work together to come to an agreement."
In light of the proposals, Judge Kollar-Kotelly expressed satisfaction that "the decree seems to be operating".
This is good news for Microsoft, and for Chairman Bill Gates, who has just been awarded an honorary Knighthood by the Queen in recognition of "his outstanding contribution to enterprise, employment, education and the voluntary sector in the United Kingdom," according to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. It noted that he has also made significant contributions to poverty reduction in parts of the Commonwealth and elsewhere in the developing world.
As a US citizen, Bill Gates cannot become Sir Bill, but instead becomes Bill Gates KBE (Knight Commander of Order of the British Empire). Previous foreign recipients of the honour include Steven Spielberg, Yehudi Menuhin, Pele, Bob Geldof and Wesley Clark.