As expected, Microsoft Corp and the US Department of Justice have apparently agreed to delay their antitrust case for two weeks. Originally scheduled for September 8, the trial now seems likely to take place later in the month. Reports say the two sides are waiting for US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to sign off on their proposal. Two days ago, Jackson ruled that Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and 16 other senior executives must be deposed in public, under a little-known provision of an 85-year-old antitrust law (CI No 3,473). That decision raises many logistical problems; for example, determining the location of the deposition and how to protect Microsoft’s trade secrets. To address these questions, the DOJ proposed delaying the case. Microsoft agreed to postponing the trial on Wednesday, the same day the already-delayed depositions had been supposed to begin.
