The Computer and Communications Industry Association and the Software and Information Industry Association said they had filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, announcing their intention to appeal.

On Nov. 1, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly approved, with minor adjustments, a settlement crafted by the U.S. Justice Department and Microsoft a year earlier.

Massachusetts and West Virginia, part of a group of nine states that had tried to obtain more stringent sanctions against Microsoft, have separately said they will appeal the settlement as too weak to address the company's illegal conduct.

In the deal approved by Kollar-Kotelly, Microsoft agreed to measures that include giving computer makers greater freedom to feature rival software on their machines by allowing them to hide some Microsoft icons on the Windows desktop.

An appeals court ruled in June 2001 that Microsoft had illegally maintained its Windows operating system monopoly, but rejected a trial court proposal to break the company in two.

The case was then transferred to Kollar-Kotelly to determine the appropriate remedies in the case. She heard 32 days of testimony to determine what sanctions should be imposed on Microsoft.

The two industry groups that flagged their intention to appeal are longstanding critics of Microsoft and have lobbied for tough government action against the company.

They said the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia should review whether the settlement goes far enough in remedying Microsoft's antitrust violations.

"After careful analysis of the terms of the settlement and after carefully reading Judge Kollar-Kotelly's ruling we respectfully conclude that this settlement is not in the public interest. We believe the appeals court should have an opportunity to review that determination," said Ken Wasch, president of the software industry association.

Asked about the latest opposition to the settlement, Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said it was "widely recognized that Judge Kotelly was very thorough in reviewing and addressing all issues related to the (approval) process."

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