Microsoft under pressure to open source code

Microsoft may yet be forced to open up its Windows source code in spite of last month's anti-trust settlement with the US Department of Justice (DoJ).

Nine US states which didn't sign up to the DoJ's settlement deal will deliver a proposed remedy to Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly this Friday, and that's expected to include a further opening of Microsoft source code.

It is not yet clear how far the nine dissenting states will go, but according to US reports some of the more extreme ones are believed to be considering extending the focus to include Windows XP and Media Player.

Those that didn't sign up to the original DoJ settlement viewed it as having let Microsoft off the hook way too easily. A prime concern remains the application programming interfaces. They claim that although Microsoft was forced to open its source code to some extent, particularly for its server operating systems, there remain many loopholes which need to be closed down.

Details of the remedy proposals are expected to emerge at the end of the week. Microsoft will have until 12 December to respond to the states' proposals.