Reports from the Associate Press suggest that the Justice Department is leaning towards a settlement based on the splitting software giant Microsoft into three separate parts. The report goes on to say that sources close to the government's antitrust trial believe that any lesser sanction would be inadequate to effectively limit Microsoft's influence on the industry. It is not clear how the government envision dividing the company, and a federal judge as well as the 19 state attorneys general would have to sign off on any such plans.
