District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly on November 1 approved a government-Microsoft deal to settle a four-year battle over the software giant's illegal squelching of competitors.

The settlement forced billionaire Bill Gates' firm to disclose some technical information and barred it from making anti-competitive agreements on Microsoft products.

But Massachusetts said the measure did not go far enough.

"The failures of the district court's remedy are profound," said the brief filed by Massachusetts Attorney General Thomas Reilly.

"It fails to stop Microsoft's illegal conduct and does nothing to restore competition to the monopolized market or to prevent Microsoft from engaging in similar means to the same unlawful end," it said.

Massachusetts argued that the judge's ruling reflected a "critical misunderstanding of the liability theory of this case."

Nine states and the District of Columbia had originally held out against the deal but Massachusetts is now alone in pushing on with the battle for harsher restrictions on Microsoft.

The only other hold-out state, West Virginia, dropped out last month.

Wednesday's filing by Massachusetts was a scheduled reply to a Microsoft brief filed June 18. The company has urged the appeals court to reject Massachusetts' appeal.

Microsoft said Massachusetts was pursuing "extreme" remedies, including a proposal to allow computer makers and consumers to remove features bundled into the Windows operating system.

Kollar-Kotelly's "thorough review and comprehensive rulings represent a fair and appropriate remedy in this case," it said.

The appeals court will hear oral arguments on November 4.

SPACE.WIRE