Microsoft Seeks Consolidation Of Cases

Welcome Guest. | Log In| Register | Membership Benefits

May 21, 1998 (12:00 AM EDT)

By Darryl K. Taft & Stuart Glascock,

Heading into Friday's scheduling hearing for the landmark antitrust cases against it, Microsoft Thursday filed two motions in the U.S. District Court asking to consolidate the two cases in to one, and another to request more time to prepare itself.

The motions were filed in response to both the U.S. Department of Justice's lawsuit and that of 20 state attorneys general charging Microsoft with illegal anticompetitive practices.

"We wanted to consolidate the cases so they could be heard as one, given that they are basically identical and have followed the same investigation," said Greg Shaw, a Microsoft spokesman.

The Microsoft motion to consolidate says: "Even though they filed separate complaints with this court, the DOJ's and states' actions are based on the same factual allegations and legal theories. That is not surprising because the actions emanate from coordinated investigations in which the DOJ and the states worked arm-in-arm to conduct broad discovery and formulate their claims. Indeed, the two actions are for all intents and circumstances identical and thus, should be consolidated for purposes of discovery, motion, and trial."

Microsoft also filed a motion to ask for an enlargement of the time to respond to the DOJ's and states' motion for a preliminary injunction against the company. The Redmond, Wash., software developer is seeking at least six months of discovery time.

"In the interest of due process and basic fairness, we're seeking a reasonable amount of time to review all the government's documents, gather evidence from third parties, and interview potential witnesses so we can prepare a full response," Shaw said, reading from an official Microsoft statement. "We want to get this matter behind us as soon as possible. We need a reasonable amount of time to respond to the government's request for a preliminary injunction that would be extremely far-reaching and could have a major negative effect on consumers and the entire high-technology industry."

For its part, Microsoft is arguing that the government has had more than 18 months of discovery in this issue. Thus, the company's request for six months is "reasonable," according to Microsoft's statement.

"It is a daunting task simply to read the mass of papers submitted by the DOJ and the states," the motion says.

Microsoft is seeking a hearing in December, seven months from now. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson may rule on these issues Friday at the scheduling hearing.