[Am-info] NewsSource, October 30 2000 / 1 of 8 / COURT NOTES

[Paul Rickard]

      *COURT NOTES: On October 11 the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 
District of Columbia Circuit announced its schedule for Microsoft's 
appeal of the antitrust case ruling. As we predicted last issue [see Oct. 
09 - [link removed] ], the court decided to split the difference between 
Microsoft's excessive schedule and the speedy appeals process proposed by 
the government. That finalized schedule calls for Microsoft to file its 
primary brief on November 27, with the government's main brief coming on 
January 12. Oral arguments will begin in the last week of February, 
instead of the late March/mid-April start date required by Microsoft's 
proposal. Damaging Microsoft's plan of constant delay, the court added 
that it would not grant deadline extensions to either side for any 
reason. The ruling also limited Microsoft's filings to 150 pages, a cap 
closer to the one proposed by the government than the one Microsoft had 
requested.

      A week later on the 18th, the court of appeals released a 2-page 
document, giving notice that it intends to seek a technical briefing from 
a computer science expert. That briefing - given by Michael H. Hites, CTO 
of the Illinois Institute of Technology - was intended to update the 
seven judges about 'automation', or a broad picture of technology and the 
computer industry. Or would have, if Microsoft or the government had 
allowed it to proceed. Microsoft applauded the court's interest in the 
subjects at hand, but objected to Mr. Hites presenting the information 
because of his previous work with Sun Micro, and his varying opinions of 
what constitutes an operating system. The government also objected 
because of the potential for Hites to present biased information. With 
both sides opposed to a briefing, the judges had no choice but to drop 
the plan and instead learn by reviewing transcripts from the original 
trial, as suggested by the DoJ.  -|

            ALSO SEE:
      http://news.cnet.com/news/0-1003-200-3162052.html
      http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/1/13919.html
      http://www.usatoday.com/life/cyber/tech/cti693.htm
      http://infoworld.com/articles/hn/xml/00/10/26/001026hnobject.xml
      http://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/ECF/Microsoft/microsoft.asp



======== Paul Rickard, Editor of The Microsoft Boycott Campaign =======
--------------------------------[ Http://www.msboycott.com ]-----------

  "Faced with the prospect of rereading this book, I would rather have
   my brains ripped out by a plastic fork."
       -ZDNet Review of Bill Gates' book 'Business @ the Speed of Thought'