Novell Inc declined comment on whether it was lobbying the US Justice Department to review the Federal Trade Commission inquiry into alleged anticompetitive practices by Microsoft Corp, Reuter reports – I really would not want to comment on that, Novell senior vice-president and corporate counsel David Bradford told the British news agency, but he said Novell would co-operate in any inquiry and that it had hired the Washington law firm Arnold & Porter to represent it in the matter; last week, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates accused Novell of pressuring the Feds to keep its inquiry open, but Bradford said he knew personally of at least 10 other software companies that had provided the Trade Commission with information for its probe; he also said he had no personal knowledge of whether the Justice Department had decided to review the probe, but if it did so, it would be an extraordinary act, he said.
