UPDATE: Microsoft asked a federal judge on Friday to extend by another four months the scheduled date for a remedy hearing in its landmark antitrust trial.
U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly had scheduled the hearing for March 11, but Microsoft argued that because of the gravity of the remedy nine states are asking for, the company should get more preparation time. The hearing would help the judge determine what sanctions to make against Microsoft for its antitrust violations.
"The states' far-reaching proposal and broad expansion of this case made today's motion necessary," said Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler.
In their remedy proposal the nine states said Microsoft should be compelled to open up the source code to the Internet Explorer browser, license Office for competing operating systems and carry Java in Windows for 10 years, among other things.
"If there is one thing that characterizes Microsoft's conduct in this case even more than denial, it is delay, delay, delay," Tom Miller, Iowa attorney general and one of the states' leaders, said in a statement.
"The states are ready to move ahead," he continued. "We have proposed reasonable and fair remedies consistent with the Court of Appeals' decision, and Judge Kollar-Kotelly has established a reasonable and expeditious schedule to determine the remedies. Let's get on to the conclusion of this case."
News source: CNET
