Supreme Court declines to intervene in Microsoft lawsuit

The US Supreme Court has decided to not intervene in Microsoft's long-running anti-trust lawsuit.

The court has declined to accept an appeal that would have forestalled any penalties.

The case now passes back to district court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to move the case on.

The Supreme Court's action does not indicate how the justices view the merits of the Microsoft case - it has simply declined to take the unusual step of intervening at this stage.

But it does represent a substantial setback for Microsoft. The issue was a question mark hanging over court-ordered settlement talks.

Many anti-trust experts saw Microsoft's Supreme Court appeal as a delaying tactic, intended to buy the company time until its new operating system gets to the market.

Congress and several state attorneys general have asked Microsoft to change Windows XP, saying it will repeat many of the same business practices already found to be illegal and would force consumers to use more Microsoft products.

Microsoft argued that Windows XP will simply give consumers the features they want.

Last month, Judge Kollar-Kotelly ordered round-the-clock talks to try to settle the case.

She is due to appoint a mediator on Friday, if necessary.