Microsoft’s antitrust case was on Friday sent from the Federal
Appeals Court for the District of Colombia to the District Court.
The lower court will now decide the remedies to be imposed against
Microsoft to end its continuing abuse of its monopoly over the
personal computer operating systems market.
The Appeals Court has already rejected the remedy proposed by
the original district court judge, Thomas Penfield Jackson, which
involved splitting the company in two. Judge Jackson has been
removed from the case following public comments made that suggested
he was biased against Bill Gates’ company.
The case will now be heard by Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly,
chosen at random by computer from a list of 17 other district
judges. The appointment has worried some legal experts in the US
due to her lack of experience in business trials. Kollar-Kotelly is
also said to have a reputation for aggressively pressing for
out-of-court settlements.
The choice of judge on Friday came the same day that Microsoft
released its new Windows XP operating system to PC manufacturers.
Windows XP has been criticised for further exploiting Microsoft’s
monopoly position, and its release to PC manufacturers could make
the consumer release of Windows XP difficult to stop should Judge
Kollar-Kotelly wish to do so.
