U.S.

Supreme Court Zaps Microsoft

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

August 24, 2001 / 11:42 AM EDT / CBS

The U.S. Supreme Court Tuesday rejected Microsoft Corp.'s request to overturn an earlier ruling that the software giant violated U.S. antitrust laws.

The high court declined without any comment or dissent to review the June 28 ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, which concluded that Microsoft had illegally maintained its monopoly over the market for personal computer operating systems.

Microsoft had argued in its appeal to the Supreme Court that the original ruling in the case, handed down last year by District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, was tainted because of Jackson's misconduct after the trial.

Gun Makers Hit The Mark

Gun makers are getting some protection from a round of government lawsuits. The Supreme Court has refusing to get involved in a dispute over whether cities can sue gun companies over crime costs. Without comment, the court refused to review a Louisiana Supreme Court ruling that upheld Louisiana's prohibition of such lawsuits
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New Orleans had been the first city to sue, accusing gun makers of selling unsafe products. Dozens of cities and counties followed suit. But the Louisiana legislature blocked the case by passing a law that retroactively banned such lawsuits. Another 26 states have passed similar laws.

The high court's action apparently ends cities' efforts to sue gun companies despite state bans. (AP)

Jackson gave secret press interviews before issuing a sweeping ruling against the company. In the interviews, he derided Microsoft executives and compared them to common street criminals.

Microsoft claimed the appeals judges applied the wrong standard when it reviewed the effect of Jackson's remarks critical of the company and its founder, Bill Gates.

Microsoft said Jackson should have been disqualified from the case when he gave his first interview. If that had happened, Jackson's entire final verdict would have been thrown out.

The federal appeals court dismissed that argument in its June ruling.

"The threat that the judge's misconduct poses to the public's perception of judges and the process of judging is palpable," Microsoft wrote.

Federal and state prosecutors argued that Microsoft should be punished quickly for its monopoly behavior, and there was no reason for the high court to step in now.

The court's action came a couple of weekbefore the company plans to release the newest version of Windows, a product company critics say raises the same antitrust issues Jackson found compelling in ruling against the company last year.

Solicitor General Theodore Olson, the Bush administration's top Supreme Court lawyer, urged the high court to stay out of the Microsoft case for now. The court should not entertain "multiple, piecemeal requests for review," Olson wrote.

"There is no warrant for further delay," Olson wrote.

Antitrust experts widely saw Microsoft's Supreme Court appeal as a delay tactic intended to buy the company time until its new operating system gets to the market.

Congress and several state attorneys general have asked Microsoft to change Windows XP, saying that it would repeat many of the same business practices already found to be illegal and would force consumers to use more Microsoft products.

Microsoft maintains that it is only providing the features consumers want, and that its customers will benefit from Windows XP.

This is the second time the antitrust case has reached the Supreme Court. After the company appealed Jackson's ruling last year, the Justice Department wanted a fast track straight to the Supreme Court, bypassing the appeals court. Microsoft objected, and the justices denied the government's request.