Microsoft Corporation, the world's largest software maker, said Monday it has settled two major antitrust disputes, ending more than a decade of challenges and possibly undermining European and U.S. antitrust cases against the firm. Microsoft has agreed to pay 536 million dollars to end the dispute with Novell, Inc., and has made peace with the hostile trade group, the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA). The terms of the trade group agreement were unclear, but Microsoft agreed to join the association, pay the group for some of its legal fees over the past decade and provide support for policy undertakings, Bloomberg News Service reported. "Life is a constant reordering of priorities, and for important and pragmatic reasons, we are choosing to move on with regard to this matter," Ed Black, the trade group's president, said in the statement. In exchange for the settlement, the CCIA and Novell will withdraw their support from the European Union's case against Microsoft for alleged abuse of its dominance through Windows. --More 2317 Local Time 2017 GMT
