During a status hearing in Washington DC, US district court judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly asked government lawyers what, if any, effect her 2002 settlement has had on Microsoft’s dominance of the PC market.
Kollar-Kotelly was told there had been no demonstrable change and that the Department of Justice had no good answer for that question.
An attorney for Microsoft, meanwhile, claimed the terms of the settlement created a more level playing field for Internet Explorer competitors, including Firefox.
Responding to what she’d heard, Kollar-Kotelly reportedly said: How the marketplace responds… is not under the control of the court.
She added, though: I have a feeling it’s going to be a long-term process in terms of knowing what happens in the marketplace.
