May 1998: Justice Department and 20 state attorneys general sue Microsoft, charging it illegally thwarted competition to protect its monopoly on software.
October 1998: Justice Department sues Microsoft for allegedly violating a 1994 consent decree by forcing computer makers to sell its Internet browser as a condition of selling its popular Windows software.
April 3, 2000: U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson finds that Microsoft violated the Sherman Antitrust Act, “maintained its monopoly power by anticompetitive means” and attempted to monopolize the Web browser market.
June 7, 2000: Jackson orders the breakup of Microsoft into two companies.
Sept. 26, 2000: Supreme Court refuses to hear Microsoft’s appeal of Jackson’s decision, sending the case to a federal appeals court in the District of Columbia.
Sept. 6, 2001: Justice Department announces that it will no longer seek a breakup.
Oct. 31, 2001: Microsoft, Justice Department reach tentative deal to settle antitrust case.
Jan. 23, 2002: AOL Time Warner Inc. sues Microsoft, seeking damages for Microsoft’s actions against the Netscape browser.
Mar. 8, 2002: Sun Microsystems Inc. files antitrust suit against Microsoft.
August 2002: Microsoft unveils several business and product changes to comply with Justice Department settlement, including giving users the ability to hide Microsoft programs such as its Web browser and only see competing products.
Nov. 1, 2002: U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly approves most provisions of settlement.
May 29, 2003: AOL Time Warner settles with Microsoft for $750 million.
April 2: Sun settles for $1.6 billion from Microsoft.
June 30: U.S. appeals court unanimously approves settlement with Justice Department, rejecting objections from Massachusetts that the sanctions are inadequate.
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