Microsoft says it will 'vigorously' enforce court agreement

Microsoft Corp, responding to reports that it is failing to abide by its antitrust agreement with the US government, said it is committed to "vigorously enforcing" the pact.

Microsoft shares fell 3.5% yesterday in the wake of the reports.

"We are aware of, and our compliance team is actively reviewing, compliance concerns, and we remain committed to vigorously enforcing the consent decree," the company said.

The latest report that Microsoft may be violating the terms of its proposed settlement agreement came in a news report by the Los Angeles Times yesterday, which follows a similar report in the San Jose Mercury News published last week.

The LA Times cited Microsoft competitors as complaining to the US Department of Justice that it continues to hide details about its Windows operating system from them.

The paper said the Justice Department has launched an investigation into the matter, which threatens to unravel a proposed settlement to the antitrust case against the giant.

Goldman Sachs analysts Rick Sherlund and John Collier said "disagreements as to the degree of cooperation required will be an ongoing issue of controversy, likely inherent in the nature of competition among these vendors."

The agreement, as well as a separate antitrust case involving states that opted out of the settlement because they thought it was too soft, are pending before a federal judge.