US government increases Microsoft pressure

The US Justice Department said in a court filing today that Microsoft used illegal means to maintain its monopoly under a federal anti-trust law.

The filing was scheduled as the latest phase in the anti-trust trial, even though separate settlement negotiations are taking place away from the court.In its proposed conclusions of law, the government, plus 19 US states, claimed Microsoft violated Section 2 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, which governs anti-trust, by attempting to illegally maintain a critical barrier to entry in the market for desktop operating systems through various schemes, including interfering in the market for techniques that would have fostered the development of platform-independent computer programs.

The Justice Department and the states will also seek charges under Section 1 of the Sherman Antitrust Act, citing exclusive contracts Microsoft made with business partners. The filing will ask the judge to find that they were illegal under the act because of Microsoft's monopoly status. Each state's conclusions are listed separately in the 42 page 'conclusions of law'.

A Microsoft spokesman said that Judge Jackson's findings do not support the government's expected Section 2 claim of attempted monopolisation, or the Section 1 business practices charges. In the November ruling, which overwhelmingly favoured the government, the judge did find evidence lacking for some claims.

For example, he said that America Online's acquisition of Microsoft's browser rival, Netscape, makes it less likely Microsoft will succeed in monopolising Internet browsers.

Today's filing comes as settlement talks continue. The parties met for the first time last week with Judge Richard Posner, the chief judge for the US Court of Appeals, whom Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson appointed for negotiations. Three rounds of talks are scheduled to take place over the next two weeks.

Over the next few months, both sides will argue whether those facts, when interpreted through anti-trust law, demonstrate that Microsoft's behaviour violated federal regulations.

On January 17, Microsoft is scheduled to file its responsive memoranda on the conclusions of law.