As many thought it would, The US Justice Department has said that Microsoft Corp’s relatively superficial compliance with a US District Court order that it cease the bundling of its browser software with its operating system is not enough. Antitrust authorities have filed a motion asking a federal judge to rule that Microsoft is not complying with the order and asked the judge to force the software giant to offer a more viable alternative to customers who don’t want Internet Explorer with Windows 95. The current choice amounts to an outdated or altogether non-functional operating system (CI No 3,313). The motion also calls for Microsoft to be given 10 days to come up with a more suitable compliance plan and seeks a $1m-a-day fine if that new injunction weren’t obeyed. The bad news for Redmond came the same day that rival Netscape Communications Inc said it was going to aggressively post electronic buttons on web sites which will allow users to download its browser and which also provide instructions on removing Internet Explorer. á
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