Associated Press
WASHINGTON — Microsoft and the Justice Department told the new judge in their antitrust case Thursday that they want to stick with private settlement talks and do not need a mediator. Analysts said a settlement could be important to the flagging economy.
The computer industry has continued its decline despite the imminent release of a major update to Microsoft’s flagship Windows operating system.
Like the stock market overall, Microsoft’s stock dropped Thursday afternoon, to $51.35 per share, a decline of $2.52.
The jointly filed status report was the first substantive discussion by the software giant and the government with U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.
Microsoft and the Justice Department "will continue to seek settlement of this matter through private discussions, which are ongoing and should continue simultaneously with proceedings addressed to remedy," the report said.
The previous trial court judge in the case, Thomas Penfield Jackson, forced the government and Microsoft into four-month settlement talks and eventually named an appeals judge as a mediator. Those talks collapsed, and both sides made clear they would prefer to avoid a mediator now.
"The parties believe that further alternative dispute resolution procedures would be unproductive at this time," they wrote.
Kollar-Kotelly was appointed to the case after a unanimous appeals court threw out Jackson’s order to break the company in two. The same appeals court upheld many of Jackson’s other findings, however, including that Microsoft operated an illegal monopoly that hurt competition.
Jackson was removed from the case after attacking Microsoft and its executives in media interviews.
While government prosecutors and Microsoft lawyers have met, lawyers close to the talks have said there has been no significant progress.
Rob Enderle, a business analyst with Giga Information Group, said the antitrust case and the unclear status of the upcoming Windows XP operating system "provides one more reason (for customers) not to purchase."
Enderle said both sides would be helped if they were no longer distracted by the case.
"Given the current environment, it’s probably important that the Department of Justice focuses on a different class of threat for a while," he said, referring to the terrorism investigation. "They need every resource they’ve got for the current crisis."
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