Federal Judge Hears Microsoft Antitrust Case

The Justice Department and Microsoft Corp. faced off in federal court in a closely watched antitrust case. During the one-hour, 45-minute hearing in a packed U.S. District Court room in Washington, Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson closely questioned lawyers from both sides but did not immediately rule on the proceeding, which was held to set a timetable for the pretrial discovery phase of the case. The government has accused Microsoft of violating a July 15, 1994, consent decree with the Justice Department by requiring computer makers to install Microsoft’s Internet navigational browser software, known as Internet Explorer, as a condition of licensing Microsoft’s industry-dominant Windows 95 computer operating system. But in a deliberate and painstaking presentation, Microsoft attorney Richard Urowsky denied that the Redmond, Wash.-based software company is forcing computer makers to accept its browser as a condition of receiving a license to sell Microsoft’s Windows 95.