Brief: Microsoft, California Government Agencies Settle Antitrust CaseBrief: Microsoft, California Government Agencies Settle Antitrust Case

A settlement said to be worth $70 million has been reached between Microsoft and various California state agencies, according to an announcement Tuesday by the law firm that filed the class action lawsuit in August 2004.

The action, one of scores that were filed across the nation in the wake of federal government antitrust action against the software giant, is separate from another $1.1 billion action that attorneys won in the name of California consumers in 2004. Microsoft has denied the allegations in the lawsuits.

Lined up against Microsoft in the recent case are the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles and the counties of Santa Clara, San Mateo, Los Angeles and Contra Costa. According to the law firm that litigated the action for the government agencies, Townsend and Townsend and Crew of San Francisco, final terms are being negotiated for the approval of U.S. District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz of Baltimore. Similar cases have been consolidated in the Baltimore court.