Just in case the antitrust trial decision goes against it when the Washington court resumes in mid-April, Microsoft Corp is said to have set Sullivan & Cromwell lawyer Richard Urowsky working on a case for the appeal. The case, if it ever gets presented, is expected to center around copyright issues, according to the Wall Street Journal. Such a defense would seek to use the law to prevent OEMs from modifying portions of Windows, such as the start-up sequence. If Microsoft lost the case, one of the options for the lower court would be to order that such modifications could be made.
And although Microsoft has been playing down Monday’s Seattle Times report that – like Intel Corp before it – it was discussing possible settlement scenarios with the government (CI No 3,614), it is widely believed that it is using the six weeks break in the trial to consider its options. Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson is said to have told lawyers just before the break to use your six weeks wisely. But direct talks don’t appear to have taken place so far, and any settlement would have to go through a complex acceptance procedure.
All the 19 states who are working with the Justice Department on the case would have to approve any settlement. And a settlement reached after evidence has been taken could be taken as an admission of guilt under antitrust law and open Microsoft up to private prosecutions. When the court resumes next month, the judge will hear the rebuttal and closing arguments of the case.
