The attorneys general are now debating three possible structural remedies.

The most drastic structural remedy, of course, would be to break up Microsoft.

"A structural remedy also sends a signal to any possible future monopolists that they don't want to go down this road."

And to him, "the record is sufficiently strong to support a strong structural remedy."

In fact, the government first made plain to Microsoft during settlement negotiations a year ago that it planned to ask for a so-called structural remedy.

Judge Jackson might be tempted, then, to impose structural remedies.

Several attorneys general are known to favor structural remedies, like breaking up the company.

"Divestiture was meant to be a structural remedy that gets at the heart of monopoly power," he said.

The department began looking for an investment banking firm to help explore the economic ramifications of a breakup or other structural remedy, an official said.

Even the states that opposed structural remedies, notably Ohio and Illinois, seemed to like the ideas.