Google Wants Restraints on Microsoft

Unsatisfied with Microsoft's concessions on Vista search capabilities, Google is recommending the courts extend existing limits on the software giant.

Google’s spat with Microsoft over the search function in Vista isn’t over yet. Although Microsoft agreed to change the “Instant Search” feature in an upcoming service pack, Google’s lawyers weren’t satisfied at the time, and now they’re taking it a step further. The Internet giant is recommending that Microsoft stay under the watchful eye of federal courts even longer than the ruling of its 2001 antitrust case originally stipulated.

As it stands, the consent decree, which forces Microsoft to accommodate other software developers on their operating system, will run out in November. “Google respectfully suggests that the court extend the term of the final judgment so that it may supervise the steps Microsoft is taking,” Google wrote in a friend-of-the-court brief.

Microsoft spokesman Jack Evans offered his own company’s rebuttal. “The government has clearly stated that it is satisfied with the changes we’re making,” he said in a statement on Monday. “Google has provided no new information that should suggest otherwise in their filing.”

Given how deep pockets at both companies are, the two could be in for an extended legal battle.