Attorneys general discuss another Microsoft suit
Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, June 20, 2001
Associated Press
WASHINGTON — The state attorneys general who pursued the antitrust case against Microsoft are privately discussing a new lawsuit, concerned that the software giant’s latest products will unfairly hamper competition, two leaders say.
Attorneys General Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut and Tom Miller of Iowa said they’re particularly concerned about Microsoft’s plans to bundle new features into its Windows XP operating system, due out this fall, and to offer new Web-based subscription services.
"Microsoft seems to be using much of its power to preclude competition on a new platform," said Miller, who organized the 19 attorneys general who joined the Justice Department in the current antitrust suit.
"This is what they did before, and this is what they’re doing again to maintain their monopoly," Miller said in an interview with The Associated Press.
Blumenthal said the states were discussing the possibility of a second lawsuit as one of several options, even as the current case awaits a ruling in federal appeals court.
"We haven’t reached a point where we’re discussing it publicly," Blumenthal said. "We have been exploring strategies, consulting experts, doing legal research. Generally preparing."
Another option, according to Miller and Blumenthal, is to bring up concerns about the new products as part of the current case if the appeals judges send it back to a lower court.
Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer is in Washington, D.C., this week, meeting with congressional leaders and Vice President Dick Cheney. The White House said the antitrust case didn’t come up in the Cheney meeting.
The company says any talk of additional litigation is premature, since most of the products cited by critics aren’t even finished yet. And it says its goal isn’t to monopolize but to give customers what they want.
"The key point in this whole process is that users decide if they want to use Web services and what information they want to give," Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said.
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