Washington, DC- The Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA) and the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA) of America today filed and amicus curiae brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in support of the motion by the Justice Department and State Attorneys General for direct review of the U.S. v. Microsoft decision. The government’s motion under the Antitrust Expediting Act requests that the Court consents to hearing the case without further consideration by lower courts.
“We believe that any fair reading of the Antitrust Expediting Act would require the Supreme Court to hear this case without further delay,” said Ed Black, CCIA President and CEO. If this case does not fulfill the statute’s requirements of ‘general public importance in the administration of justice,’ then no case will ever fill these requirements, and the statute will be rendered meaningless.”
“Throughout the course of this trial, Microsoft and its army of public relations firms, lawyers, and lobbyists have vociferously argued that the government’s enforcement of the antitrust laws in the technology sector would create turmoil in our industry and irreparably harm millions of consumers,” said Black. “Now they maintain that it is not even of ‘general public importance.”
“No one but Microsoft could seriously argue that this is not the most important antitrust action in decades, and we believe that prompt resolution is critical. Microsoft has already employed every delay tactic at its disposal to maintain its monopoly and forestall the administration of justice for several years. We hope that the Supreme Court will not allow this to continue and will quickly restore competition to our industry.”