US trade groups blocked in Microsoft appeal effort

WASHINGTON: A computer industry trade group has said that it is appealing in a higher court, against a decision by a federal judge that rejected its bid to intervene '

in Microsoft Corp.'s settlement deal with the government.

However, U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has said that the CCIA

and the Software and Information Industry Association do not have the legal

standing to step in and appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the

District of Columbia. The two groups had filed friend-of-the-court briefs with

Kollar-Kotelly arguing in favor of stricter sanctions against Microsoft.

But Kollar-Kotelly said legal precedents did not support the groups' argument

that they had a right to intervene in the government case. If they want to

pursue the matter further, she said, they could file a private case against the

company.

"Nothing prevents the associations or their membership from pursuing

their own antitrust actions against Microsoft," the judge wrote.

"We are committed to ensure that the courts carefully review the defects

in the government's settlement, and believe appellate oversight by the D.C.

Circuit is essential in the administration of justice," said CCIA president

Ed Black. "This case is just too important to rest on the non-revisable

discretion of a single district judge."

In the deal endorsed by Kollar-Kotelly on Nov. 1, Microsoft agreed to

measures that included giving computer makers greater freedom to feature rival

software on their machines by allowing them to hide some Microsoft icons on the

Windows desktop.

An appeals court ruled in June 2001 that Microsoft had illegally maintained

its Windows operating system monopoly, but rejected a trial court proposal to

break the company in two.

The case was then transferred to Kollar-Kotelly to determine the appropriate

remedies in the case. She heard 32 days of testimony to determine what sanctions

should be imposed on Microsoft.The two industry groups that flagged their

intention to appeal are long-standing critics of Microsoft and have lobbied for

tough government action against the company.

© Reuters