Antitrust Action Against Microsoft Heats Up

Two private antitrust lawsuits filed against Microsoft by its competitors have been transferred to a Federal court in Baltimore, under the same judge who is overseeing more than 100 private class-action antitrust lawsuits against the software maker.

The pretrial proceedings in the cases launched by Sun Microsystems and Be will be coordinated by Judge Frederick Motz of the U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland, in Baltimore, the companies confirmed Thursday. A third private antitrust suit by Netscape Communications is also expected to be moved to Motz's court, according to sources familiar with the case. Netscape, a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner, could not be reached for comment Thursday.

Microsoft did not return calls seeking comment.

Streamlining the Suits

The lawsuits against Microsoft by Sun and Be were transferred to Motz's court by request of the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, a body charged with streamlining related cases filed in multiple districts, according to Sun and Be.

"Microsoft made a motion to the court to have it joined with other cases," says Dan Johnston, president of Be, located in Mountain View, California.

Sun, in Santa Clara, California, is suing Microsoft over claims that the software maker used anticompetitive practices to block the distribution of its Java technology. Be, a former operating system maker, has claimed that its downfall was a result of Microsoft's anticompetitive maneuvers in the market for desktop operating systems.

A pretrial conference in each case is scheduled to take place Tuesday in Baltimore, according to Johnston and a Sun spokesperson.

Microsoft's Advantage?

"The significance is that they'll be litigating in one forum, with one judge, and with less risk of inconsistent proceedings and rulings," says Emmett Stanton, an attorney with the law firm Fenwick & West, in Palo Alto, California, who has closely followed Microsoft's antitrust case. "It works to Microsoft's advantage to be in one place rather than three."

Motz has been overseeing more than 100 private class-action antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft that were consolidated under his jurisdiction. Microsoft attempted to reach a settlement in that consolidated case, agreeing to contribute $1 billion in hardware, software, and technical support to U.S. schools in exchange for ending the class-action lawsuits. In January, Motz turned down that settlement offer.

Be and Sun filed their cases in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. Be's case was assigned to a judge in Oakland, while Sun's was assigned to a judge in San Jose. Netscape filed its lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, in Washington, D.C.