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Microsoft fight looms
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May 8, 1998: 8:59 a.m. ET
Antitrust action against software giant nearing, attorney general tells CNNfn
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - As the likelihood of a settlement grows fainter and Microsoft Corp.'s self-imposed deadline for releasing Windows 98 grows closer, a state attorney general said Friday that state and federal authorities were preparing for the possibility of a new antitrust assault on the software company.
"Our positions are solidifying," Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told CNNfn Friday. "Our objective and our paramount goal really is to stop the anti-competitive practice that restrains consumers' choices, whether it is requiring the browser be purchased and be incorporated into the Windows product, or restraints on the Internet service providers and content providers."
The state action comes as the Justice Department prepares its own action. A Wall Street Journal report on Friday described federal action against the software giant as "imminent."
The central issue in the ongoing dispute against Microsoft is whether the company had unfairly leveraged its dominance of the computer operating systems market to discourage competition in the Web browser market.
Microsoft software run on an estimated 90 to 95 percent of all personal computers.
Blumenthal decried the company's decision to bundle its Internet Explorer (IE) browser with the Windows 95 operating system, saying that it "essentially permits Microsoft to . . . use its dominant position in the market . . . to stifle competition."
Although he declined to comment on what action 13 states currently cooperating with the Department of Justice would take against Microsoft, he said that "positions are solidifying" and that the states would "seek a pattern that will essentially allow entrance and invasion into the market."
Microsoft intends to release its new Windows 98 operating system - designed to fully integrate Internet browser capabilities - to computer manufacturers May 15.
Unless the company reaches an agreement with the Justice Department before that date, the department is expected to initiate a formal antitrust lawsuit, in all likelihood derailing the Windows release.
If the case results in litigation, Blumenthal said that the states would prefer to coordinate their own legal action with Justice.
Microsoft stock (MSFT) fell 3 points, or 3.47 percent, on Thursday to close at 83-3/8. 
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