Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2003 | 9:41 a.m.
WASHINGTON -- The antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. is returning to the U.S. appeals court where the world's largest software company already has won significant victories since the government began investigating its business practices nearly a decade ago.
Six appellate judges who agreed in June 2001 that Microsoft had illegally abused its monopoly over Windows software are considering whether the Bush administration and 19 states negotiated adequate antitrust sanctions in a court-approved settlement.
The attorney general in one state, Tom Reilly of Massachusetts, wants tougher penalties, arguing that the settlement was so profoundly flawed that the trial judge's approval of it represented an abuse of her discretion.
"The settlement is a proper one, tough but fair," countered Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith.
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