Late last night papers were filed by Microsoft opposing efforts by several states to extend most of the provisions of its 2002 antitrust consent decree by another five years. The ruling had been delayed temporarily while the judge in the case deliberated the facts, but most analysts at the time predicted a smooth course towards extension; this may now change.
The driving fear behind the seven states moving to extend the government oversight of the company seems to come down to Silverlight. They say that because Adobe’s Air and Flash “substantially rely on the browser” to exist, and Microsoft continues to bundle IE with Windows, it is “critical” to oversee Microsoft until these technologies can achieve browser independence.
Microsoft counters that it has a "strong track record of complying with the expiring portions" of the judgement, and even say that it has publicly committed to adhere to the same principles even after the expiration.
From the filing: "The claim that Web services are a 'nascent' technology that warrants extra protection is itself inconsistent with the facts and the state of competition in the industry."
As has been noted here in conversations I've had with Mashable readers regarding software and technology monopolies, Microsoft does indeed have a checkered past. Given current moves in the software, OS, and online world, I think any of us would be hard pressed to prove that Microsoft presently exists in a vacuum, and that the market pressures that existed in the beginning of this decree are now anything close to what they were.
Raw Source Material: Microsoft’s Filed Statement