Judge demands MS papers

US district judge Thomas Penfield Jackson ruled in favour of a Department of Justice (DoJ) request last week for additional evidence from Microsoft for its antitrust case.

The DoJ believes that the documents it wants, which relate to Microsoft meetings with Apple, Intel, Real Networks and Intuit, support its claim that the software giant tried to use its 90 per cent share of the desktop operating system market to control new and related markets.

The administration has also requested electronic copies of a Microsoft database containing information on prices, OEM relationships, royalties, discounts and sales forecasts going back as far as January 1990, but Jackson did not rule on the issue and the DoJ and Microsoft said they would continue to discuss it.

But Microsoft branded the move 'an IBM-like kitchen sink monstrosity', a reference to the US government's long and unsuccessful antitrust case against Big Blue a decade ago.

Microsoft also filed a nine-page filing alleging that the material under question was beyond the scope of the original case and added 'without warning on the eve of the trial'. The software vendor also asked Jackson to either exclude the latest DoJ allegations or delay the start of the trial for at least six months.

Jackson has set 14 September as the date he will consider Microsoft's request to delay the 23 September start of the government's antitrust case. However, this will be preceded by a hearing on 11 September when he will rule on Microsoft's motion to dismiss the case altogether.