Massachusetts filed Friday an appeal of U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly’s recent Microsoft Corp. antitrust settlement ruling, a case it expects to pursue alone as the other non-settling states accept Kollar-Kotelly’s remedy and focus on enforcement, state Attorney General Tom Reilly said during a press conference.
“After a complete remedies trial, we were disappointed when the district court did little more than accept Microsoft’s loophole-filled deal,” Reilly said. “Microsoft has been found to have repeatedly violated the antitrust laws of this state and this country. We believe a remedy must send a message that breaking the law will not pay. Otherwise, it sends a dangerous message about what is acceptable behavior.”
Following the remedy ruling earlier this month, several attorneys general from states that declined to sign off on the federal government’s initial proposed settlement with Microsoft praised Kollar-Kotelly’s ruling, citing new compliance provisions lobbied for by the states and added to the remedy by the judge.
The five attorneys general commenting after the ruling said at the time that an appeals decision would be made after further consultation among all involved parties. Reilly said Friday that the other states have decided not to appeal.
“My understanding right now is that the other states are going to focus on enforcement,” he said. “We are prepared to go it alone. … We always expected one way or another this would be resolved at the appellate level, and that’s where it’s going.”
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