The US Department of Justice has notified an appeals
court that it will not intervene in an antitrust case against
Microsoft.
Last week, the department notified the US Circuit Court of
Appeals for the District of Columbia that it would not file a
"friend of the court" brief in the antitrust case Massachusetts and
West Virginia have against Microsoft.
The two states want tougher antitrust penalties than imposed by
judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly and approved by the Justice
Department.
The lack of a Justice Department position in the case means less
potential opposition for the two states' appeal of the
Kollar-Kotelly decision, but a spokeswoman at the Massachusetts
Attorney General's office declined to comment on the Justice
Department's decision.
A Justice Department spokeswoman declined to speculate on what
the agency's decision might mean to the two states. "It's not our
case," she said, explaining the reason for the decision. "We're not
a part of it."
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler had no comment on the Justice
Department's decision, although he noted that it had supported the
Kollar-Kotelly antitrust sanctions.
"We've been working very closely with the Department of Justice
to ensure that all aspects of the consent decree are being
followed," Desler said. "What we have in place is a thorough and
tough consent decree that is ultimately good for the industry."
Grant Gross writes for IDG News Service