Justice Department requests further information on Microsoft's plan to acquire WebTV. Says it is part of its regular review of mergers.

State of Massachusetts begins an antitrust investigation of Microsoft.

Justice Department asks a federal court to hold Microsoft in civil contempt for violating terms of the 1995 court order barring it from imposing anticompetitive licensing terms on manufacturers of personal computers. The DOJ seeks to impose a $1 million-per-day fine if violation of the court order continues.

Texas files a lawsuit against Microsoft, charging the software giant with interfering in the state's antitrust investigation.

In December, Judge Jackson issues a temporary order forbidding Microsoft from requiring Windows 95 licensees to carry the Internet Explorer Web browser. The company says it will appeal the order and allows PC makers to choose an older version of Windows 95 that is stripped of Internet features or a more updated version of the operating system with Internet Explorer. Stripping out the IE 3 files from Windows 95, according to Microsoft, would make Windows 95 inoperable.

Six days after the Jackson's ruling, the Justice Department argues Microsoft "flouted" the court's order. Government attorneys again ask the judge to find Microsoft in contempt and impose a $1 million fine for every day it violates the order. Again, the case focuses on whether Internet Explorer is an integrated part of Windows or a separate product. Jackson says a court clerk uninstalled IE 3.0 in 30 seconds, but Microsoft contends that the uninstall program deletes only the icon and a few files that make the browser accessible, and that 97 percent of the IE code remains installed.