Meet the Street: Waiting for Microsoft to Pass Go

If O.J. Simpson's was the trial of the last century, Microsoft's(MSFT Quote) own legal travails should get billing worthy of twice that: The software giant's antitrust saga now spans two centuries, and the darn thing just seems to keep going.

James Lucier, Senior Washington Research Analyst, Prudential Securities

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On Wednesday, the Senate Judiciary Committee held hearings to vet last month's proposed settlement between the Justice Department, nine states and the company in the landmark antitrust case. That settlement is currently being reviewed by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to determine whether it's in the public interest.

At the same time, attorneys general from nine other states and the District of Columbia who rejected the settlement deal are forging ahead with their own legal battle, trying to win tighter restrictions on Microsoft's future behavior.

And that's all separate from another settlement, proposed for more than 100 private class action suits against the company, that calls for Microsoft to donate $1 billion in software and equipment to schools. That proposal has met harsh criticism from Microsoft's competitors, specifically Apple Computer(AAPL Quote), that claim Redmond is simply trying to extend its monopoly into the classroom, one of Apple's last significant markets.

Oh, and last week, West Virginia decided to sue Microsoft all over again in state court.

TSC caught up with James Lucier, Prudential Securities' senior Washington research analyst, who's been following Microsoft's ongoing saga closely. We talked about the implications of the Senate hearings and Microsoft's legal morass in general.

TSC: In your view, what is the significance of the Senate basically holding hearings to look into this settlement?

Lucier: Well, congressional oversight is an important, necessary and appropriate part of the American process. Any major antitrust settlement in the United States is almost routinely reviewed by the Senate, and often by the House Judiciary committee as well. That's one of the reasons that the U.S. system is often very resilient, and adaptive to change, and capable of dealing with new events.

TSC: So then these hearings in some sense are routine?

Lucier: Actually they are routine. There is a statutory requirement under the Tunney Act that Congress hold hearings after the Tunney Act process is done. The fact is Congress is there to oversee each and every function of the federal government. It's an important job for them to do. ...