Microsoft Appeal Begins

The landmark antitrust case against Microsoft came back to life in fall 2000 as the venue for the next stage of the trial was determined. The U.S. Supreme Court denied a Department of Justice (DoJ) motion that the court hear the case immediately and instead directed that the case be referred to the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. The appeals court has given Microsoft until Nov. 27 to file its initial brief, and is likely to hear oral arguments in late Feb. 2001. A decision is not likely before June 2001 under that schedule.

As a result of the Supreme Court’s decision to not hear the case at this time, Microsoft wins at least three key advantages: it delays the final outcome of the case for as much as a year, it remains unrestricted in its conduct, and it gets the case sent to a more favorable court.

A Friendlier Court

The Supreme Court’s decision was considered at minimum a procedural victory for Microsoft, which preferred to have the appeals court, rather than the Supreme Court, hear its appeal of a devastating decision by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson of the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Judge Jackson ordered in June 2000 that the company be broken in two, and he placed stiff restrictions on its business practices.