Antitrust Case Goes to Supreme Court

After two weeks of legal wrangling and maneuvering, Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) both claimed victory on June 20 when Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson indefinitely stayed harsh conduct remedies that he had imposed on the company and sent the case to the U.S. Supreme Court for review.

The DoJ had petitioned the judge to send the case to the Supreme Court, arguing that Microsoft’s behavior would continue to damage the computer industry if the case is not resolved quickly. However, Microsoft favored sending the case to the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which has ruled in the company’s favor in the past, and which had already indicated its willingness to consider the case. Microsoft feared that the U.S. Supreme Court would take so long to consider its options that the conduct remedies imposed by Judge Jackson would kick in as scheduled on Sept. 5. This would have forced the company to, among other things, open some Windows source code to competitors and restrict its pricing flexibility for its operating system software.