Judge Limits Microsoft Subpoena

A federal judge narrowed the scope of a subpoena that Microsoft Corp. had issued to Oracle Corp. as part of its defense against the Justice Department’s antitrust suit. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ordered that Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle provide rival Microsoft, the world’s leading software company, with internal documents that provide information about agreements it had entered into with a group of other high-tech companies. An attorney for Oracle said he was pleased that the company did not need to provide information about discussions that never led to completed agreements--information that Microsoft had requested. A Microsoft spokesman said the decision gave neither side what it wanted. The trial is scheduled to begin Oct. 15. Separately, two authors of a new book about Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft and rival Netscape Communications Corp. refused to provide tapes and transcripts subpoenaed by Microsoft, but they left the door open to negotiations with the company.