Ronna Abramson

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Judgment Day Friday for Microsoft

Ronna Abramson

Long-awaited U.S. District Court decisions in the Microsoft(MSFT Quote) antitrust saga will be released Friday afternoon, according to the court.

In a notice Thursday, the U.S. District Court said Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly will issue opinions in the Microsoft cases at about 4:30 p.m. EST Friday.

Kollar-Kotelly has been weighing two different points in the Microsoft antitrust case. First, under the Tunney Act, she must decide whether a settlement reached between the Redmond, Wash.-based giant and the Justice Department is in the public's best interest. Separately, she also is considering a request for stricter penalties from nine states that did not join the settlement.

The nonsettling states are California, Massachusetts, West Virginia, Utah, Kansas, Minnesota, Florida, Iowa and Connecticut.

Among the proposed stricter remedies sought by the non-settling states against Microsoft: to require that Microsoft offer a cheaper, stripped-down version of its Windows operating system without "bundled" software programs such as Windows Media; to ensure that its Office software is compatible with non-Windows systems; to include the Java programming language in Windows XP; assurances that Microsoft can't retaliate against competitors; and the appointment of a single special master to supervise the company's compliance with the law for 10 years, twice as long as the five years in the proposed settlement with the Justice Department.

The decision Friday will still be open to appeal by both sides.

The DOJ's proposed settlement calls for Microsoft to open up parts of the source code for Windows to enable competitors to more easily write software to run with it, engage in uniform license agreements with hardware vendors and allow those vendors greater flexibility to display or add non-Microsoft programs on the Windows platform. It also includes the appointment of a three-member oversight panel to make sure the company complies.

In June 2001, the U.S. Court of Appeals found that Microsoft had illegally maintained a monopoly in computer operating systems and remanded the case to the lower court to figure out how the company should be penalized. In September the Justice Department said it wouldn't seek to break up the software firm and it wouldn't seek a further ruling on whether Microsoft illegally tied software to its operating system. Then, after months of haggling, Microsoft settled the case in November with the Justice Department and with half of the 18 states that had sued the company.

Earlier this year, Kollar-Kotelly heard weeks of testimony on the tougher penalties from executives at Microsoft, including Bill Gates, and from rival technology companies and economists.