Microsoft to make first move in breakup appeal

Sunday, November 26th 2000, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) _ In its latest attempt to preserve its structure, Microsoft Corp. will file its first brief with a federal appeals court, arguing that a lower court was wrong in deciding that the software giant was an unfair monopoly and should be broken up.

The brief, ordered by the by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia to be no longer than 150 pages, is expected to criticize the lower court for perceived mistakes in handling the effort by the Justice Department and several state attorneys general to split the company in two.

In the past _ and likely in the filing to be sent to the court Monday _ Microsoft has argued that the court's breakup order would harm consumers by raising prices for computer software and slowing the introduction of new features.

Also, Microsoft has taken U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson to task for statements made outside the courtroom, as well as in several newspapers. The company thinks that these statements show that Jackson is biased against the company.

Already Monday, one ``friend of the court'' brief has been filed in favor of Microsoft, by the Association for Competitive Technology. ACT, founded in 1998 at the time the federal government's effort against Microsoft was escalating, has been a frequent defender of the Redmond, Wash.-based firm.

ACT argues in its brief that Microsoft improved its products by fusing them together, rather than bundling its operating system and Internet browser together to shut out competitors, as the court concluded.

The group also said that splitting the company into two _ one with the Windows operating system and another comprising everything else the company controls _ would hurt the market by eroding the industry standard. Windows runs on over 90 percent of the world's personal computers.

On January 12, the government is due to file its brief with the appeals court. Microsoft will have a chance to reply by the end of January, and oral arguments are set for late February.