Bush on MS: I prefer innovation to litigation

David Lawsky

WASHINGTON: Republican presidential candidate George W Bush said on Thursday

he preferred "innovation over litigation," his strongest comment in

months on the Clinton administration's antitrust case against Microsoft Corp.

Bush's comments echoed Microsoft's broad justification for its actions. A

federal judge has ordered the software giant split in two for violating

antitrust laws, and Microsoft has appealed.

Asked about the Microsoft case on CNBC television, the Texas governor first

said he would not talk about pending cases.

"But I will tell you this, I have always stood on the side of innovation

over litigation," Bush said. "I think that some fundamental questions

ought to be asked: Are the customers being harmed and is innovation being

stifled?"

Bush's comments come at a time when Washington State, the home of Microsoft

and a place where much of its stock is held, is in the balance for the

presidential election.

Three separate recent public opinion polls show Washington State, with 11

electoral votes, and the neighboring Oregon, with seven, to be a dead heat.

Washington State voted for President Bill Clinton in 1992 and 1996, and for

Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis in 1988.

Both Bush and his Democratic rival, Vice President Al Gore, are campaigning

hard for support there and Bush plans to visit again before the election.

Some Microsoft employees who identify themselves as liberal Democrats and

agree with Gore on the environment, civil rights and other issues have told

local media they may support Bush if he will be more sympathetic to Microsoft.

In June, US District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found that the

company violated the nation's antitrust laws and ordered the firm to be broken

in two.

Oral arguments and final written arguments in the case will take place soon

after the next president assumes office on Jan. 20.

If Microsoft wins in the appeals court, as it did in a different 1998 case,

analysts have said a Bush administration could choose to settle the case.

(C) Reuters Limited 2000.