Microsoft has been criticised as "sleazy" for funding a letter-writing campaign to pressure state attorneys general to go easy in their antitrust lawsuits.
Of more than 400 letters in support of a settlement that Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff received, two were signed by dead Utah citizens, state officials acknowledged.

Regulators became suspicious of the ruse after noticing that the same sentences appear in the letters and that some return addresses appear invalid.

Minnesota Attorney General Mike Hatch said he received about 300 letters. He told reporters: "It's sleazy. This is not a company that appears to be bothered by ethical boundaries."

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller's office confirmed it had received more than 50 antitrust lawsuit letters in the last few weeks.

In addition, some of the 18 other state attorneys general have been the recipients of the campaign from lobbyists on Microsoft's behalf.

Microsoft officials said the company is responding to the lobbying efforts of competitors who have waged political campaigns against the company for a long time now.

"It is hardly a surprise that organisations and companies would mobilise and counter those efforts," a Microsoft spokesman said.