Representatives of Microsoft Corp, 19 states and the Justice Department have been introduced to antitrust trial mediator Judge Richard Posner of the 7th US Circuit Court of Appeals in Chicago. Posner was appointed by US District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to facilitate discussions between the combatants after three earlier rounds of settlement talks went nowhere. Apparently under orders not to discuss the latest session publicly, none of the parties made any formal statement. I won’t even comment on the fruit plate, government prosecutor David Boies told Reuters. He did say that future meetings will probably be in Chicago, but added: We’re not going to be able to talk at all, even about details like when we’re going to meet again, where it’s going to be. We’re just going to be as confidential as we can.
Since Judge Jackson ruled last month that Microsoft is a monopolist whose actions have harmed consumers, it’s unlikely that the government will accept any settlement that does not restrain what Microsoft likes to call its power to innovate. As for Microsoft, the flurry of new class action lawsuits against it may mean that it is more than usually willing to compromise. AP reports that Microsoft’s lawyers were taking directions from chairman Bill Gates during breaks in the mediation negotiations. Where the mediator stands on the issues remains an open question. A conservative member of the Chicago School of economics, Judge Posner has said that society would be better off if no attempts were made to regulate natural monopolies. His appointment could be Microsoft’s first piece of good fortune for some time.
Either way, the mediation phase of the trial may not last long. Judge Jackson has told lawyers that Judge Posner is unlikely to waste any time in debate if the parties’ differences seem impossible to reconcile. If mediation fails, Judge Jackson expects written arguments by December 6 and oral arguments to resume February 22, 2000.
