US District Judge Thomas Jackson has ruled against Microsoft Corp in its bid to have the court-appointed special advisor dismissed from its legal battle with the Department of Justice. The judge steadfastly refused to remove Harvard University law professor Lawrence Lessig from his position as a court-appointed special master and went so far as to accuse Microsoft of making defamatory remarks against Lessig. Microsoft had opposed the appointment of Lessig, who will act as a technical expert in the case, accusing him of being biased after learning he had corresponded with employees at rival Netscape Communications Corp. The judge told lawyers for the software giant that its opposition to Lessig was completely without merit and warned that if its complaints him had been made in a more formal manner, it might have resulted in sanctions against the company.
