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Appeals Court Tells Everyone No

The U.S. Court of Appeals on Thursday turned down requests from Microsoft Corp. and the U.S. Department of Justice in the Microsoft antitrust case.

In a terse order, the judges denied Microsoft's petition for the high court to rehear part of the case. Microsoft wanted to reopen the issue of commingling.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson concluded that Microsoft mixed the code of its Windows 98 operating system and Internet Explorer browser for non-technical, anti-competitive reasons.

Microsoft contended that nearly all the evidence presented in court rejected that conclusion.

In its ruling on the case June 28, the appeals court upheld nearly all of Judge Jackson's conclusions of law, but overturned his order breaking the company in two. The appeals court sent the case back to the district court for a new remedy before a different judge.

The appeals court also on Thursday rejected the government's motion to fast-track the case in U.S. District Court. The case could still get started late next week unless Microsoft makes a Supreme Court appeal.

About the Author

Scott Bekker is editor in chief of Redmond Channel Partner magazine.

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