Judge Doubts States' Enforcement Plan
Reuters | at | by Mike
The federal judge considering what antitrust sanctions should apply against Microsoft Corp. expressed grave doubts on Friday about the enforcement mechanism proposed by nine states. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly criticized as "odd" and "unusual" the states' proposal that would direct future complaints against Microsoft to a court-appointed "special master," rather than the U.S. Justice Department. "Obviously I have some concerns about it, as to how it would work," Kollar-Kotelly said after bombarding a states' attorney with critical questions about the plan.
She reminded Shenefield that an appeals court had struck down a similar "special master" arrangement in a dispute over a Microsoft antitrust agreement with the government that was the prelude to the current case. "This circuit has some very definite views about the use of special masters," Kollar-Kotelly said. The judge went on to question why the states wanted the federal government to "abdicate" its enforcement role by handing oversight to the special master. And she criticized a provision in their plan that would allow disgruntled companies to take their complaints directly to court in many cases. "Their interests may not be compatible, frankly, with the interests of the (government)," Kollar-Kotelly said.