States oppose delay in antitrust case

Monday, Dec. 31, 2001 | 9:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- Nine states seeking stricter antitrust penalties against Microsoft Corp. asked a federal judge to reject the company's proposal to delay hearings in the case until the summer.

The states said today in court papers that the remedies phase of the case should be held in March as the judge has ordered. The company proposed delaying it until July or August.

The No. 1 software company said on Dec. 21 that the delay is warranted because the nine states are seeking new penalties that amount to a "dramatic expansion" of the case.

The nine states are seeking restrictions on Microsoft's business practices that go beyond a proposed settlement signed by the Bush administration and nine other states. Among other changes, the states want Microsoft to forfeit control of its Internet Explorer browser.

"That Microsoft stands to benefit from delay is obvious," the state attorneys general said in the court papers. "It is equally obvious that the consumers and competitors who have been and are being harmed by Microsoft's monopolistic conduct stand to suffer further from the passage of additional time."