Judge Tells Justice and Microsoft to Work it Out

Updated from 12:48 p.m. EDT

Sometimes, the best thing to do with squabbling adversaries is to lock them in a room until they work out their differences. And that's just what the judge in the Microsoft(MSFT Quote) case intends to do.

Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly today ordered Microsoft and the government to shift into high gear on settlement talks, telling them to "engage in an all-out effort to settle these cases, meeting seven days a week and around the clock." The move gives a clear framework to how the penalty phase of the landmark antitrust trial will proceed.

In her order, she cited the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. as an additional motive to get the 4-year-old case over and done with. ...