Microsoft lose the latest round in EU

Microsoft has lost its appeal against the EU's antitrust ruling in the EU's court of first instance, right off the back of numerous US states requesting that the overseer of the company's US antitrust agreement extend her supervision of the company due to its approach to compliance on that side of the pond. Don't expect this to be the end of the story. Microsoft's lawyers are very smart.

Update: The FFII agree that Microsoft's lawyers are very smart:

The Foundation for a Free Information Infrastructure (FFII) says that Microsoft was expecting the 17 September verdict of the EU's anti-trust case, and will exploit software patents to keep its monopoly grip on the global IT market.

FFII president Pieter Hintjens explains, "The decision seems positive but it is five years out of date. During that time, Microsoft has lobbied for software patents in Europe and bought patents on many trivial concepts. It has claimed patent violations against Linux, put patent timebombs into its formats and interfaces, and turned fear of patents into a core part of its business strategy. It will now open its formats, because that lets it extend its software patent franchise even further."