NEWS • Oct. 10, 2001
U.S. Supreme Court Rejects Microsoft Antitrust Appeal
Redmond giant charged case tainted by original judge

The U.S Supreme Court today declined an appeal by Microsoft Corp. to overturn a ruling that it violated antitrust laws. The nation's highest court rejected, without comment, to review the ruling by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia that found Microsoft acted illegally in maintaining its monopoly of computer operating systems. The Redmond, Wash.-based developer of the Windows operating system, Microsoft Office suite of productivity software, Internet Explorer web browser, and other software for both the enterprise and consumers, argued in its appeal to the Supreme Court that the ruling handed down by the original judge, District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, was tainted because of comments that Judge Jackson made after the trial, comments that Microsoft Corp. had viewed as derogatory to the company and its co-founder, Bill Gates.

Both the Department of Justice and Microsoft Corp. have been urged to settle the case by Nov. 2, and if no settlement is reached, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly will appoint a mediator to spur a settlement deal. If no deal is reached with the assistance of the mediator, Judge Kollar_Kotelly will hold hearings to determine what punishment, if any, will be imposed on Microsoft to prevent the company from engaging in future anti-competitive behavior.

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