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Microsoft schedule set
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October 11, 2000: 1:46 p.m. ET
Appeals Court to proceed swiftly with case briefing, argument schedule
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Microsoft Corp. will have until late November to file written arguments in its appeal of a federal judge's ruling to break the software company in two, a federal appeals court said Wednesday.
In an order issued Wednesday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia set a deadline of Nov. 27 for Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates) to file its brief, which will have a limit of 150 pages. The court set a deadline of Jan. 12, 2001, for the Justice Department's brief, which will have a limit of 125 pages.
Microsoft is to file a reply brief by Jan. 29, 2001, with a limit of 75 pages. Final briefs in the case are due Feb. 9, 2001. Oral arguments are set for Feb. 26 and 27, 2001, the court said.
The schedule the Appeals Court set shows that it intends to proceed swiftly in the appeal of the antitrust case, which is considered to be one of the most important proceedings in the history of federal antitrust law. The timetable is shorter than Microsoft had wanted but longer than the Justice Department and the 19 states suing Microsoft had advocated.
Microsoft stock rose $1.50 to $56.06 after the Appeals Court released the briefing and oral argument schedule.
On Oct. 2, Microsoft asked the Appeals Court to allow a five-month period for both sides to file briefs in the case. It proposed that each side file principal briefs of not more than 56,000 words and that Microsoft be allowed to file a reply of not more than 28,000 words. Two days later, the Justice Department asked for a process that would last until Dec. 22, with briefs less than half the length sought by the software maker.
"We believe this is a fair and reasonable schedule, and we look forward to presenting our arguments to the court," Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said Wednesday. "We are confident of our case on appeal and believe that the district court's judgment will be reversed due to the wide array of legal, factual and procedural errors."
A Justice Department spokeswoman said that the government is "looking forward to proceeding."
In a sign that the Appeals Court is adopting its procedures for the Information Age, it is requiring all the parties to file their briefs in CD-Rom format, with hyperlinks to every case and statute cited in their briefs. The court also created a special section on its Web site devoted to filings in the Microsoft case.
Recent history of the case
On April 3, District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson concluded that Microsoft had violated federal antitrust law by maintaining its near monopoly over personal computer operating systems by anticompetitive means and by attempting to monopolize the Web browser market. He also found that the software maker violated federal antitrust law by tying its Web browser to its operating system when it released Windows 98.
Last June, Jackson issued a final order requiring Microsoft to separate its Windows operating system business from its applications business and barring the company from engaging in practices that the court found led to the antitrust law violations. However, Jackson's order doesn't go into effect until Microsoft has exhausted its appeals.
Last month, the Supreme Court turned down a direct appeal of the case, rejecting a Justice Department argument that quick action was needed because technology evolves swiftly. Instead, the high court sent the case to seven judges on the Appeals Court. 
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