Court Drops Tutorial Plan in Microsoft Case

The appeals court that will review the Microsoft Corp. breakup order backed off a plan to get a briefing on computer basics in advance of the February arguments in the epic antitrust case. The decision by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit comes a day after attorneys on both sides of the dispute raised concerns about the proposed session. On Oct. 18, the appeals court proposed a briefing by Illinois Institute of Technology official Michael H. Hites to cover “basic concepts underlying the fundamentals of automation.” Microsoft and government antitrust enforcers said in separate filings that they were concerned the session would devolve into a debate over the merits of the case. The Justice Department, while saying it had “no objection” in principle to the briefing, suggested the court could learn a great deal about computers by reviewing the transcripts from the 78-day trial held by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson.