US high court rejects Microsoft antitrust appeal

WASHINGTON: The US Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected Microsoft Corp.'s

request to overturn an earlier ruling that the software giant violated US

antitrust laws.

The high court declined without any comment or dissent to review the June 28

ruling by the US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, leaving it for

the District Court to review. That ruling, which concluded that Microsoft had

illegally maintained its monopoly over the market for personal computer

operating systems, is currently before the bench of US District Court Judge

Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

Microsoft had argued in its appeal to the Supreme Court that the original

ruling in the case, handed down last year by District Judge Thomas Penfield

Jackson, was tainted because of Jackson's misconduct after the trial.

Jackson gave secret press interviews before issuing a sweeping ruling against

the company. In the interviews, he derided Microsoft executives and compared

them to common street criminals. The appeals court sharply rebuked Jackson in

its June ruling and reversed his order that Microsoft be split in two. But the

appeals judges unanimously upheld Jackson's ruling that Microsoft holds a

monopoly in the PC operating systems market and used illegal tactics to defend

it.

In its subsequent appeal to the Supreme Court, Microsoft attorneys argued the

appeals judges erred by refusing to throw out all of Jackson's conclusions. The

Justice Department countered that, under legal precedent, the appeals court was

under no obligation to throw out Jackson's findings. The department also said

that, since Microsoft may later appeal other portions of the case, granting a

review now would lead to piecemeal review of the case.

The two sides currently are locked in settlement talks at the order of Judge

Kollar-Kotelly, a new judge assigned to finish overseeing the case. If the two

sides are unable to settle, Kollar-Kotelly is scheduled to hold hearings in

March to determine what sanctions should be imposed on Microsoft to prevent

future antitrust violations.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.