WASHINGTON, (dpa) – The U.S. Justice Department has announced it is giving up efforts to break-up Microsoft, the world’s largest computer software company.
The Justice Department said in a statement Thursday it has decided to streamline the case and find another remedy as soon as possible. The officials say they want to seek prompt, effective, and certain relief for consumers.
The Justice Department also says it will also no longer pursue its complaint that Microsoft illegally tied its Internet Explorer to its flagship Windows operating system, which prosecutors had argued gave Microsoft an unfair advantage over other software companies.
A Microsoft spokesman reacted to Thursday’s announcement by saying the company is committed to settling the case.
But an unnamed justice department official says the government is not retreating from its contention that Microsoft has been operating an illegal monopoly.
The U.S. case will now focus on restricting Microsoft’s business operations.
The justice department brought its case against Microsoft more than three years ago on behalf of 19 U.S. states. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson last year ordered Microsoft to split into two separate companies.
But an appeals court later threw out that order, while upholding Judge Jackson’s opinion that Microsoft was an illegal monopoly.
