May 22, 1998

Microsoft asks for 7-month delay in preliminary injunction

By TED BRIDIS
Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) -- On the eve of its initial court appearance in a historic antitrust case, Microsoft Corp. asked a federal judge today to delay for at least seven months the government's demand to make changes to Windows 98.

That would put the case well past the date that Microsoft plans to begin selling the latest upgrade to its flagship Windows software, on June 25.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson planned a scheduling hearing on the antitrust case for Friday.

When the Justice Department and 20 states filed their antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft earlier this week, they also asked a judge for a preliminary injunction to force the software company to relax restrictions in its sales agreements with computer makers.

Microsoft also asked a federal judge today to consolidate the Justice Department's and states' lawsuits into a single complaint.

The government wants computer manufacturers to be allowed to choose whether they want Microsoft's Internet browser -- or one from rival Netscape Communications Inc. -- installed on machines with Windows 98. It said it wants the judge to impose those changes before the software upgrade goes on sale next month.

Assistant U.S. Attorney General Joel Klein, heading the antitrust case for the Justice Department, was careful to note earlier this week that the government's request "will not require Microsoft to redesign Windows 98."

"Our main focus ... is not the code, it's the contracts," he said.

But Microsoft said it was facing a government case that was nearly two years in the making, one that comprised thousands of pages of documents and dozens of interviews with industry executives, including some from its toughest rivals.

"We obviously want to get this issue resolved as soon as possible," said Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray. "But we need a reasonable amount of time to respond to the government's request for a preliminary injunction, which would be extremely far reaching and could have a very negative impact on consumers and on the broader high-tech industry."

Microsoft proposed to the judge that it be given 60 days to get copies of all relevant documents from the Justice Department, the states, and third-party companies. It wants 120 days more to interview executives and others from companies who gave information to government investigators, plus 30 days more to file its first response to the government's request for the injunction.