• The Seattle Times , Tuesday, June 26, 2007 11:15 AM

Google escalated its antitrust battle with Microsoft yesterday in a filing with the U.S. District Court that oversees Microsoft's landmark 2001 antitrust settlement. Major portions of it are set to expire in November. Unsatisfied with the changes Microsoft is making to Windows Vista's desktop search feature in response to an antitrust complaint, Google is pushing for further changes and more judicial oversight of Microsoft's practices.

Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith says that the company "already went the extra mile and worked things out with 19 different government agencies" -- the plaintiffs in the settlement. David Drummond, Google's chief legal officer, calls those changes "a positive step," but says they don't go far enough "to ensure meaningful choice" for consumers.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly will hear from Microsoft and government lawyers on the status of the settlement today at a regularly scheduled conference in Washington, D.C. There will be plenty to talk about, including the original complaint Google filed, the changes Microsoft and the government agreed to last week, and this latest Google filing.

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