Microsoft, U.S. Urge One-Day Hearing On Settlement

Microsoft

In a status report to U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, the two sides said the hearing should not include arguments by outside parties, some of whom would argue against the settlement.

Outside participation, the Justice Department and Microsoft said, is "unwarranted and unnecessary."

Even if the judge concludes otherwise, the report says, outside arguments should be kept short, "limited to a small, manageable number of such parties," and balanced between supporters and opponents of the settlement.

The report noted that two-thirds of the roughly 22,500 public comments submitted to the Justice Department during a recent, 60-day public comment period expressed opposition to the settlement.

But of those, only 2,900 of the comments "can be characterized as containing a degree of detailed substance concerning the (settlement)," the report says. It said only 45 of them were "major" submissions.

In the report, the Justice Department and Microsoft said the hearing would be a forum to present their arguments for the settlement, "answer any questions the Court may raise, and provide any additional information or explanation the court requires."

Kollar-Kotelly is required under a U.S. law called the Tunney Act to determine whether the proposed antitrust settlement is in the public interest.

While nine states involved in the case have supported the settlement, another nine are pressing for stronger sanctions against Microsoft for illegally maintaining its monopoly in personal computer operating systems.

Kollar-Kotelly has ordered Microsoft and the department to be in court on Friday morning to discuss the status of the Tunney Act proceedings.

The judge has said she will begin parallel hearings on March 11 on the proposals for stiffer sanctions by the nine nonsettling states.

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