Microsoft and its antitrust foes in the US state and federal
governments hit another deadline today in their efforts to settle
the landmark legal bout outside of a courtroom, with little sign of
progress.
District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly ordered Microsoft into
intense settlement talks with the US Department of Justice (DOJ)
and the 18 state attorneys general in September.
Kollar-Kotelly had set a deadline of 12 October for both sides to
work out an agreement on their own or bring in a mediator to help
steer to a settlement in the next three weeks
With the passing of the first deadline, most legal and industry
experts say there is little chance that the two sides will reach a
consensus.
Microsoft would not comment on whether any progress in the ongoing
settlement talks would be announced or on the status or content of
any talks currently under way.
Microsoft and the government plaintiffs will meet Kollar-Kotelly on
12 October to update the court on the settlement efforts. The two
sides are also expected to offer names of potential mediators to
take over the discussions, or the court will appoint one.
Ernest Gellhorn, an antitrust professor at George Mason University
Law School said there was little chance for the case to end out of
court. "It could happen, but it would be a surprise," he
said.
Gellhorn noted that the two sides have already tried a similar
settlement effort with no luck. In April 2000, before District
Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson delivered his original ruling
that Microsoft had illegally used its monopoly of the operating
system to hurt competitors in other markets, the case was sent into
negotiations. After five months of protracted talks, no deal
emerged.
Microsoft has now exhausted most of its remaining avenues of
appeal. The US Supreme Court announced on 9 October that it had
rejected the company's request for a review, offering no
accompanying opinion.
If a settlement is still incomplete by the November deadline,
Kollar-Kotelly has ordered that the case be sent back to trial,
where she will devise a remedy to impose on Microsoft.