A group of state attorneys general urged a federal judge on Tuesday to hold Microsoft Corp. to a 2002 antitrust settlement another five years so that the company can't stymie embryonic Web 2.0 rivals of its Windows operating system.

A number of states including California and New York filed legal briefs Friday supporting their earlier request to extend the government's restrictive antitrust oversight of Microsoft Corp. The states said in a court filing that extended oversight of the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant is necessary for "meaningful marketplace competition."

A group of states led by California said in a court filing Thursday that ending oversight of Microsoft's business practices in November would not allow enough time to consider the antitrust implications of Windows Vista

U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly issued a ruling this evening extending the expiring terms of Microsoft's U.S. antitrust consent decree until Nov. 12, 2009, two years from the previous expiration date. California, New York and other states had been asking for a five-year extension; Microsoft had argued that none was needed.

Seven state attorneys say key provisions of the final antitrust judgment have had little impact on competition with Microsoft.

Microsoft, state prosecutors, and the U.S. Department of Justice on Tuesday said a federal judge needs more time to weigh whether Redmond should be subjected to a lengthier period of antitrust policing.

The Department of Justice has declared Microsoft's antitrust settlement to be a success, and if they say so, it must be true!

Plaintiff States California, Connecticut, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and the District of Columbia (“California Group”)1 respectfully submit this Report on Remedial Effectiveness.

In the next seven days, both Microsoft's European Union and United States antitrust cases will reach critical junctures. A routine U.S. hearing tomorrow will likely be anything but routine. Elsewhere, an appeals court will issue a ruling on the validity of Microsoft's adverse antitrust case in Europe.