Microsoft Foes, Friends File Flurry of Briefs
Microsoft Corp. said Tuesday that the government’s landmark antitrust case against the software giant was unsupported by case law and “noteworthy for [its] lack of substance.”
Microsoft’s filing came as a flurry of friends and foes--ranging from Harvard law professor Lawrence Lessig to the Assn. for Competitive Technology, a Microsoft ally--rushed to file briefs before final oral arguments begin Feb. 22.
Lessig’s 51-page filing could carry more weight than other friend-of-the-court briefs because he was invited by presiding U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to file one over Microsoft’s objections.
Lessig, an expert on technology and law, argued Tuesday that a crucial appeals victory for the software company in a related case may not protect Microsoft from the government’s latest antitrust claims.
Lessig’s brief addressed whether Microsoft illegally “tied” its Web browser to its dominant Windows operating system.
The arguments put forth by Lessig may be an indicator of how Jackson is leaning as he prepares his verdict.
In May 1998, a federal appeals court ruling overturned Jackson’s decision to give personal computer makers the option to package Microsoft’s Windows operating system without its controversial Internet Explorer Web browser.
But Lessig suggested ways the judge might structure part of a verdict against Microsoft so as not to clash with the appeals ruling.
Briefs were also filed from the 19 states that joined the Justice Department in suing Microsoft. The briefs are not binding and are intended to advise the court on various points of law.
A Justice Department official was quick to trumpet the part of Lessig’s brief suggesting that Jackson might be able to ignore the appeals court decision. Lessig “agrees with our core contention that Microsoft’s bundling of the browser illegally preserved its operating system monopoly,” spokeswoman Gina Talamona said.
But Microsoft took issue with that idea. “We believe [Lessig’s brief] . . . supports Microsoft’s position,” spokesman Jim Cullinan said
The Justice Department alleged in the antitrust case that Microsoft used its flagship product, Windows, which runs more than 90% of all personal computers, to crush Web browser rival Netscape Communications Corp. Netscape was acquired by America Online Inc. in 1998.
In Jackson’s scathing 207 pages of factual findings issued in November, he concluded that Microsoft is a monopoly that has used its software dominance to crush rivals and extend its power into emerging markets for Internet software.
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Associated Press was used in compiling this story.
