The state of Massachusetts has expressed concerns that Microsoft's plans to enter the increasingly lucrative search engine market could represent its latest abuse of a dominant market position, according to media reports.

It appears that the state – the only one that held out against settling the long-running antitrust battle with the software giant – this week lodged a filing with the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

State Attorney General Thomas Reilly warned in the filing that the settlement reached between the US Justice Department and Microsoft in 2002 is not working to restore competition. He said that his state is investigating concerns that if the next iteration of Windows, currently known as Longhorn, incorporates a search engine, as Microsoft has said it will, it could amount to a new abuse of its desktop dominance.

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