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Microsoft seeks trial delay
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May 21, 1998: 4:54 p.m. ET
Software titan asks federal judge for seven months to prepare for case
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Microsoft Corp. filed a motion Thursday asking the U.S. District Court to delay for seven months the government's demand for changes in the company's Windows 98 operating system.
The software giant said it need that time to prepare for the antitrust case filed by the Justice Department and 20 state attorneys general.
Microsoft and federal regulators are scheduled to meet Friday in U.S. District Court, in which judge Thomas Penfield Jackson will set a schedule for the case and a date for the preliminary injunction hearing.
In its motion, Microsoft said the Justice Department and the states conducted a two-year antitrust investigation before filing thousands of pages of documents Monday, when the suits were officially filed.
Microsoft said it has not had ample time to review all the documents or "cross-examine any of the third parties" who submitted affidavits to federal regulators.
The Justice Department's complaint included excerpts of testimony from several computer makers supporting the government's claim that Microsoft has a stranglehold on the industry through its Windows operating system.
Microsoft is asking for 60 days to obtain documents from third parties and review the documents submitted by the government, 120 days to interview computer industry executives and 30 days to file its response to the government's request for a preliminary injunction.
The government's request for a preliminary injunction calls for Microsoft either to ship a version of Windows 98 without the Internet Explorer Web browser or one that includes the rival Navigator browser from Netscape Communications Corp.
In its motion, Microsoft labeled Netscape "the Microsoft competitor whose interests the DOJ and the states are expressly seeking to advance."
Microsoft proposed that after seven months, the Justice Department and the states would then have two weeks to file their replies.
In a separate motion on Thursday, Microsoft also asked the court to consolidate the two antitrust suits into one filing. The software giant argued that the cases are based on the "same factual allegations and legal theories" and that the Justice Department and the states worked "arm-in-arm" to build their cases.
A lengthy trial would favor Microsoft, financially at least. Windows 98 is due to hit store shelves on June 25. A seven-month delay would guarantee strong sales of the product in its current form, with Internet Explorer integrated into the operating system.
Shares of Microsoft (MSFT) closed at 86-3/8, up 5/8. 
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