It follows complaints from Sun Microsystems and others that the original licence terms offered by Microsoft were so unreasonable that only three companies have obtained licenses to date.
Specifically, the licenses relate to technology used by Microsoft server operating system products to interoperate with its Windows operating system products.
According to the Justice Deaprtment, Microsoft has agreed "to substantially revise the terms of the licenses that it initially offered on August 6, 2002".
It added that Micosoft will also drop requirements for third parties to enter into a non-disclosure agreement covering the terms of the licenses and that the revised licenses will be available for review on Microsoft's web site within a few days.
Over the next several weeks, the Justice Department will examine the royalties contained in the licenses.