Nine states still pursuing the Microsoft Corp. antitrust case accused the company of "thuggish" business practices in closing arguments on Wednesday, and portrayed the judge as the last chance to stop the software giant's bullying. "I suggest to you that Microsoft still doesn't get it and you're the only one left to tell them what it's all about," states' attorney Brendan Sullivan told U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

The states said their most important demand was for Microsoft to disclose key pieces of computer code that allows rival software to work with its dominant Windows operating system -- even more important than demands for a version of Windows with removable features replaceable by competitors. The sanctions would force Microsoft to behave "more like a company facing competition and less like a firm existing in a comfortable monopoly," said Steve Kuney, another attorney for the states. The nine states have refused to sign a settlement of the case reached in November between Microsoft and the U.S. Justice Department and endorsed by nine other states previously party to the four-year-old case.