WASHINGTON - In the latest filing in a case beginning to sound like a very high-priced version of The People's Court, the Justice Department has accused Microsoft of trying to reinvent history in its defense to federal antitrust charges.
A month ago, Justice's antitrust division accused the software superpower of abusing its monopoly position in the computer operating-system marketplace by strong-arming PC-makers into bundling the Internet Explorer browser onto machines equipped with Windows 95. The company's goal, the government alleged, was to run rival browser-maker Netscape out of business.
That behavior put the company out of compliance with a 1995 federal court consent decree that forbade the company from using coercive marketing tactics.
Microsoft's defense, filed with US District Court Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson two weeks ago, was simple: the government's premise was faulty because the company has been moving since late '93 to integrate Internet Explorer with Windows 95.
The Justice Department's response to that defense, filed with Jackson today, ridiculed that explanation.
"Microsoft seeks to rewrite this history to disavow everything it has told millions of consumers by attempting to characterize the Internet Explorer as an 'integrated' component of Windows 95, rather than a separate product," the government said in its filing.
"The basic fallacy in Microsoft's position is that it confuses ... [a court order's] prohibition on coercive marketing practices with the assurance of the proviso that Microsoft will be free to develop new, integrated products."
The government also rejected the suggestion that Internet Explorer and Windows have achieved the status of an integrated product.
"Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser was developed as, and in every significant way continues to be, a separate product from Microsoft's Windows 95 operating system," the government said.
The government said Microsoft is seeking a "prolonged antitrust proceeding" to delay matters until the government's case is moot, thereby harming consumers "by denying them the choices to which they are entitled."
Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray told the Associated Press he hadn't had a chance to review the government's latest filing, but he disputed the general thrust of the government's charges.
"The (1995) consent decree specifically allows Microsoft to develop integrated products," Murray said. "The Department of Justice has known of our plans to integrate web features into Windows 95 for more than three years."
Reuters contributed to this report.
