Shoot, I forgot to check today's news before I wrote the last message. Here's an article with today's rebuff for Bill & Co., along with sidebar links to recent stories.
Court Denies Microsoft's Bid to Delay Antitrust Case nytimes.com
In a one-paragraph order issued this morning, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia said Microsoft had failed to demonstrate that it would suffer any substantial harm if the case were to go forward. The appeals court also took a swipe at Microsoft for arguing before the Supreme Court that the decision should be vacated in its entirety because the trial judge, Thomas Penfield Jackson, had violated a Federal ethics law by making derogatory comments about the company.
"It appears that Microsoft has misconstrued our opinion, particularly with respect to what would have been required to justify vacating the district court's findings of fact and conclusions of law as a remedy of the violation" of the ethics law by Judge Jackson, the appeals court said. "We need not decide, however, whether Microsoft's objections constitute a `substantial question' likely to lead to Supreme Court review, because Microsoft has failed to demonstrate any substantial harm that would result from the reactivation of the proceeding in the district court."
The judges directed the court clerk to issue a mandate in seven days, formalizing the order and prompting the random selection of a new district court judge later this month.
Predictably, officials at the Justice Department praised today's decision, while company executives said it was wrong.
It's just not fair, says Bill. |
