Judge favors Microsoft search agreement

A U.S. judge said Tuesday she will likely defer to an agreement on desktop search forged between Microsoft and the plaintiffs in the U.S. government's antitrust lawsuit against the software vendor, instead of responding to a complaint from rival Google.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, of the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, said she is relying on the plaintiffs, including the U.S. Department of Justice and several states, to suggest solutions for complaints related to a 2002 antitrust settlement governing Microsoft.

"The plaintiffs, as far as I'm concerned, stand in the shoes of the consumer," Kollar-Kotelly said during a status hearing on Microsoft's compliance with the settlement. "Google is not a party in this case."

This month, Google filed an antitrust complaint against Microsoft, saying it was difficult for computer users to change the default desktop search program in Windows Vista. Google protested the proposed desktop search agreement between Microsoft and the antitrust plaintiffs, saying it didn't go far enough. Google on Monday filed a motion asking Kollar-Kotelly to extend her oversight of changes to desktop search.

Google said in a court brief filed Monday that "more may need to be done" to allow desktop search competition in Vista. But it was pleased with Kollar-Kotelly's handling of the issue in court Tuesday, said Alan Davidson, the company's senior policy counsel.

"From the beginning, this has been about making sure that consumers have access to the widest possible choice," Davidson said. The remedies proposed in the agreement between the plaintiffs and Microsoft will ensure consumer choice, he added.

There was disagreement between the Department of Justice and the California group of plaintiff states about whether the Google complaint was substantial, but the plaintiffs have come together on the proposed agreement on desktop search, said Stephen Houck, a lawyer for the California plaintiffs.

The California group believed that Google "raised some very important issues," Houck said. Desktop search is one of a few middleware products since the 2002 antitrust settlement that has the potential to challenge a Microsoft product, he said.

"It was very important to us to protect the potential of desktop search in the final judgment," Houck added.

The search agreement will let software vendors register their products as alternatives for the Vista Instant Search software. The default search selected by the computer user or OEM will launch whenever Vista launches a search result window, and the default search will have space in Vista's start menu.

Microsoft also will tell software vendors and OEMs that the desktop search index in Vista is designed to run in the background and give way to other search products. Microsoft will also provide technical information to allow other desktop search providers to design their products to optimize computer resources.

Microsoft doesn't believe it violated the antitrust settlement with its search functionality in Vista, said Charles Rule, a lawyer for Microsoft. The company improved its functionality, but didn't create a new middleware product that would be covered under the antitrust settlement, he said.

The IDG News Service is a Network World affiliate.