West Virginia Joins Fight to Appeal Microsoft Settlement.

Byline: Kim Peterson

Dec. 3--West Virginia joined Massachusetts yesterday in appealing a federal judge's Nov. 1 approval of the antitrust settlement between Microsoft and the government.

The two states are continuing the antitrust fight that began nearly five years ago when the U.S. Department of Justice, 20 states and the District of Columbia sued Microsoft.

West Virginia Attorney General Darrell McGraw Jr. said he wanted to appeal because the judge's ruling did not adequately address Microsoft's "commingling," or integration, of its Internet browser with its Windows operating system. A previous judge had found Microsoft illegally maintained its monopoly in part with this practice, a decision an appeals court later affirmed. …