Divisions emerged on Monday among state attorneys general in the Microsoft antitrust case, with some states hoping to sign on to a settlement plan while other expressed outright opposition.
With their decision due in court on Tuesday morning, attorneys general representing New York and some of the 18 states were still talking with Microsoft to get last-minute changes that would enable them to sign the pact struck with the US Justice Department on Friday, sources said.
Massachusetts Attorney General Tom Reilly, meanwhile, said he and the attorneys general from "a core group of (other) states" won`t support the settlement as it would still allow Microsoft to crush smaller rivals.
Skeptics of the deal also include Bill Lockyer, attorney general of technology-rich state of California, according to one source.
The settlement reached with the Justice Department in the three-year-old case is designed to give computer makers freedom to feature other software and requires Microsoft to share the inner workings of its Windows computer operating system with other software makers.
The pact, which must still be approved by the court, could end legal wrangling over sanctions against Microsoft since an appeals court in June found the company had illegally maintained its monopoly in computer operating systems but overturned a lower-court order to split the company in two. Bureau Report