Most States to Continue Case Against Microsoft

No matter what happens to the Microsoft antitrust case in a future presidential administration, most state attorneys general say they will stand firm in their attempt to break Microsoft Corp. in two.

But both North Carolina’s candidates for attorney general have pledged to re-examine their state’s commitment to the case. They made that promise at the behest of North Carolina Citizens for a Sound Economy, a national lobbying group to which Microsoft contributes.

Utah is the only other of the 19 plaintiff states with an attorney general’s race this year, and neither candidate there has indicated he will withdraw support for the suit. Though withdrawals could come at any time, they are considered more likely to occur with changes in a state’s attorney general’s or governor’s office.

Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who coordinates the states’ case, said North Carolina’s withdrawal, if it comes, would have no effect.

“There’s such a large core of states, and we’re in such a strong position,” he said in a telephone interview last week.

Reacting to Microsoft’s filing this week contesting much of the breakup order, the state law enforcement officials say they are as determined as at the start of their two-year effort to end what they call a monopoly by the world’s largest software maker.

“The states are committed to litigate this to conclusion,” Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal said Tuesday. “We’re in for the long haul.”

Microsoft’s filing Monday asked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia for a very long schedule and called into question 19 separate facets of the U.S. District Court’s June decision to break up the company,

The Justice Department threw down the gauntlet Tuesday and took the rare step of filing its proposed schedule two days before it was due. That proposal recommends a much faster schedule and shorter court briefs than Microsoft wants. The government said the company should be able to reply to its proposal before its deadline next Tuesday, too.

A spokesman for Miller agreed with Blumenthal that the states will not back down.

“The states will pursue it,” spokesman Bob Brammer said. “We are full partners and have full status as plaintiffs in the case, and we will continue the case.”