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To: Richard G. Woodland who wrote (2723)	4/10/1998 3:49:00 PM
From: Joe T. Kelly	Respond to of 4903

US Justice Department trustbusters meet Microsoft Reuters Story - April 10, 1998 14:23 (Updates with meeting ending after 3-1/2 hours) WASHINGTON, April 10 (Reuters) - Top Justice Department trustbusters met Microsoft Corp. . lawyers and executives on Friday as the U.S. government pondered whether to bring new, broader charges against the software giant. "It's not unusual to meet with parties during the course of a negotiation," a Justice Department spokesman said after the 3-1/2-hour meeting ended. He had no comment on the meeting's substance. Microsoft general counsel William Neukom entered and left the Department of Justice by car through an auto entrance, avoiding reporters and camera crews who were waiting outside. "We felt it was an extremely useful exchange of information on both sides," said Mark Murray from Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington. "I just don't think it's appropriate to comment on the specific details of the meeting." Microsoft, which had sought the meeting, met with Assistant Attorney General Joel Klein and other top antitrust officials to open a high-level dialogue when the company is under increasing scrutiny by state and federal law enforcement for alleged anti-competitive practices. Some Justice Department staff lawyers say they believe the federal government now has enough evidence to file charges against Microsoft. In an interview this week in Washington state, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer Bob Herbold said the company was in daily contact with federal antitrust authorities and was providing information to state investigators. Eleven states are preparing to file antitrust charges against Microsoft, sources close to the investigation have said. They said the states would accuse Microsoft of using its dominance over computer operating systems to extend its control to related areas, such as the Internet. California, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New York, South Carolina, Texas and Wisconsin are involved in the case and others may join, a source said. In the past, Microsoft has reached agreements with authorities when it faced a serious court challenge. For example in January the company faced what legal experts said was the certainty of a contempt citation from U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. On the morning of the hearing, Microsoft and the government however announced they had reached an agreement that averted the potential contempt citation. Jackson is hearing government allegations that Microsoft violated a 1995 consent decree that was supposed to help ease the way for increased software competition. The Justice Department has argued Microsoft defied the decree and competed unfairly against Netscape Communications in the market for browsers, software needed to look at the Internet's Web. Microsoft has asked an appellate court to throw out the government's charges, arguing that it was exercising a right under the decree to integrate a Web browser into its operating system. The expedited appeal will be argued before a three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit on April 21. On Thursday, a day before the talks with the Justice Department, Microsoft announced it had revised contracts with about two dozen media and entertainment companies to eliminate exclusivity provisions. Under the contracts, content providers featured on the "Channel Bar" of Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser were required to promote the Microsoft browser exclusively on their main Internet pages. The contract provisions drew the attention of Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch of Utah last month at a hearing where he grilled Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on the issue. At the time, the company said that it would get rid of the problem. (From newsalert.com) Sorry if it's length annoys anyone , Joe