Lawyers for Microsoft Corp. and the U.S. Justice Department recommended on Thursday that a federal judge hold a one-day hearing on the proposed settlement of the antitrust case against the company, and bar critics of the deal from participating at the hearing.
But critics of the deal said a one-day hearing would be too short and insisted the judge should be presented with an opposing viewpoint.
In a status report to U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, Microsoft and the Justice Department said the hearing should not include arguments by outside parties. Under a law called the Tunney Act, Kollar-Kotelly must determine whether the proposed antitrust settlement is in the public interest.
Microsoft and the department said it is ``unwarranted and unnecessary'' for anyone to take part in the hearing aside from themselves and nine states that are part of the settlement. Nine other states are pressing for stronger sanctions against Microsoft for illegally maintaining its monopoly in personal computer operating systems.
|