Trade Groups barred from appealing Microsoft pact
Reuters | at | by Mike
A federal judge on Monday rejected a bid by two computer industry trade groups to appeal Microsoft Corp.'s MSFT.O settlement deal with the government. U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly said the Software and Information Industry Association and the Computer & Communications Industry Association do not have the legal standing to step in and appeal the case to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia.
With the judge's permission, the two groups had filed friend-of-the-court briefs with Kollar-Kotelly arguing in favor of stricter sanctions against Microsoft. But Kollar-Kotelly said legal precedents did not support the groups' argument that they had a right to intervene in the government case. If they want to pursue the matter further, she said, they can file a private case against the company.