News
Microsoft Wants More Time for Appeal
- By Scott Bekker
- October 09, 2000
Microsoft last week petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia to extend the time allotted to four months to prepare briefs for its appeal of a U.S. District Court antitrust judgment.
The U.S. Justice Department had asked that all briefs be filed by Dec. 22 and that oral arguments begin in January in the hopes of expediting the outcome.
Microsoft attorneys argued that they plan to address 19 issues in its appeal, many of which are technical in nature and require more time than general appellate guidelines allow.
In June, District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled that Microsoft had suppressed competition by abusing monopoly power regarding its Windows operating system. He ordered the company divided into two in order to return a competitive atmosphere to the marketplace.
In an interview with ENT, Professor James Meeks, a faculty member of the College of Law at Ohio State University, who specializes in antitrust issues, said regardless of the outcome on the appellate level, most legal experts fully expect a final review by the US Supreme Court. – Ted Williams
About the Author
Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.