Antitrust enforcers at the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday they "remain concerned" about the price Microsoft Corp. plans to charge competitors to view the inner workings of the Windows program under its antitrust settlement with the government.
In a report to a federal judge, officials said they were still not satisfied with the royalty structure and rates Microsoft was proposing for access to computer code needed to make server software function properly with the Windows operating system. The licensing terms could be important to companies such as Sun Microsystems Inc. that are battling Microsoft in the market for software that run servers, the powerful machines that manage computer networks.
Thursday's report to U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was aimed at keeping the judge updated on Microsoft's compliance with the settlement. As part of the settlement, Microsoft had promised to license the code, or protocols, on "reasonable and non-discriminatory" terms. However, Microsoft rivals, who opposed the settlement, have since complained to the department that the licensing terms are anything but reasonable.
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