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Microsoft fires back
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November 11, 1997: 12:52 p.m. ET
Software giant says antitrust case meant to stall Windows development
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Microsoft Corp. is accusing the Justice Department of using antitrust charges to hamper the development of the Windows operating system and is asking that the case be thrown out.
The software giant filed a 48-page response to the charges Monday night saying that it should have the right to add new functions to Windows 95 and that components like its Internet Explorer Web browser are only new functions.
Antitrust regulators have maintained that Microsoft is illegally integrating the browser with the operating system.
Speaking to reporters in Washington, D.C. Tuesday, William Neukom, Microsoft's senior vice president of law and corporate affairs, accused the Justice Department of grandstanding.
"The current litigation in the context of which we filed papers late yesterday was announced by a press event organized by the Department of Justice. That press event has generated a good deal of publicity around the merits of the litigation, some of which has been engineered by competitors and self-appointed critics," he said.
Microsoft also maintains the government knew it was planning to integrate Internet Explorer with its operating system before the agreement was negotiated.
"Before we sat down to negotiate this degree, the government had subpoenaed documents that showed Microsoft had begun including integrated Internet technology into Windows 95 as early as the fall of 1993," Neukom said.
Neukom said the Justice Department set a precedent when it ruled earlier that including a graphics program with Windows NT version 3.51 did not violate antitrust laws. In that case, Neukom pointed out Justice said while including the program might slow demand for standalone graphics products, it didn't violate antitrust laws.
Neukom said the 1994 consent decree gives Microsoft the right to evolve the operating system. He said an Internet browser is a natural extension of that evolution and that the decree preserves Microsoft's right to include new innovations into the product. (250K WAV) or (250K AIFF)
However, unlike previous cases, this lawsuit extends well beyond Microsoft's traditional software business. Rivals charge that if Microsoft is allowed to gain control of the way users of its operating systems access the Internet, the company will grow to dominate Internet content and unfairly favor its own online services.
Microsoft said the lawsuit is designed to keep the company from adding new functionality and improving the features of Windows 95. The company said Justice was engaged in a "perverse" effort to deny users the benefit of proven technologies.
Justice officials would not comment to the newspaper on the filing. The government has 10 days to issue a formal response to the brief. The next hearing on the case is Dec. 5.
The company also refuted the government's claim that it uses restrictive licensing agreements to keep companies from disclosing their terms and conditions.
Justice officials have said those restrictions have hampered its investigation and keep Microsoft customers from speaking out. Microsoft said it has agreed to waive those restrictions as part of the Justice investigation when requested.
Microsoft contends that there's nothing in the inclusion of Internet capabilities that keeps PC makers from shipping any software they wish with their PCs. 
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