We have all said things we regret, but few of us have filed such things in print with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC). But most of us are not Microsoft. Microsoft spent the bulk of its filing with the FTC last month (opens in new tab) denouncing the FTC's regime and its lawsuit against Microsoft's $69 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard (opens in new tab) as a total violation of the US Constitution and a complete " The whole system was in a "broken" mode. [However, Axios reports (opens in new tab) that Microsoft cooled down over the Christmas vacation, deleted these complaints, and made an amended filing stating that it was a mistake to file the complaints in the first place. The new filing (opens in new tab) maintains Microsoft's opposition to the FTC's complaint, arguing strenuously that the acquisition will make Activision's games more accessible to consumers. In fact, it is strikingly similar to last month's filing, except that it lacks six notes in the "affirmative and other defenses" section accusing the FTC of violating the Constitution and Microsoft's Fifth Amendment rights.

If anything, Microsoft seems a bit ashamed of its initial runaway filing; when contacted by Axios, Microsoft spokesman David Cuddy said that although the company "initially had all possible claims on the table internally," the initial filing at the time, "we should have dropped these defenses prior to submission," he said. In a statement that had the air of someone who, after an epic struggle, actually realized they were wrong, Cuddy even made it clear that Microsoft respects the FTC's "important mission to protect competition and consumers."

Whether such regret will please the FTC or persuade it to drop the lawsuit is another matter entirely. This week, FTC attorneys said at a pretrial hearing that "substantial" settlement negotiations (open in new tab) between the FTC and Microsoft are not underway. Still, Microsoft would be right to drop its more provocative defense. The sweeping accusations of unconstitutionality do not help its image. [It is not only the FTC that Microsoft has to worry about. Regulators in the UK and the EU have launched detailed investigations into the deal in recent months, expressing particular concern about access to Call of Duty by Microsoft's competitors. Nevertheless, authorization has been granted in Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Serbia (open in new tab), and Chile (open in new tab), so it is unlikely that Microsoft will be directing any accusations or subsequent letters of apology at them in the near future.