Justice Department no longer seeks Microsoft break-up

The US Justice Department says it's no longer interested in seeking the break-up of Microsoft.

The company has been involved in a legal battle in the US over allegations that it holds a harmful monopoly.

But the US department also says it will not pursue the bundling issues in its protracted anti-trust suit against the software company.

The agency is taking these steps to obtain "prompt, effective and certain relief for consumers".

The release follows a judge's order for the two sides to produce a joint status report by September 14.

The Government told Microsoft that it does not intend to pursue a breakup. It says it will drop the bundling issue to help speed up consultations in the joint report.

US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found Microsoft guilty of anti-trust violations last year and ordered the company to be split in two.

But Microsoft appealed that ruling, partly because of allegations that Judge Jackson had shown bias against the company.

The federal appeal court had backed the judge's findings that Microsoft had broken the law, but it did not support his suggested remedy that the company be split in two.