Washington, DC- Ed Black, President and CEO of the Computer & Communications Industry Association (CCIA), issued the following statement in response to Microsoft’s filing a reply brief with the Appeals Court:
“Once again, Microsoft seeks to distort the law and facts surrounding the overwhelming case against the company. In today’s filing, the company states: ‘If the Supreme Court elects not to consider the question posed in Microsoft’s petition, the stay will likely remain in effect for no more than six weeks. Little will happen during that short period.’ As Microsoft well knows, such a contention is preposterous. Microsoft plans to ship the next generation of its illegal operating system — Windows XP — to computer manufacturers within days and has accelerated the launch schedule so that consumers will be able to buy the product by the end of September. Microsoft is well aware that after the product is shipped, it will be much more difficult for the government or a court to pull it off of the market, making Microsoft’s new wave of illegal bundling and monopoly leveraging a fait accompli.
“Furthermore, Microsoft makes the ridiculous claim that failure to stay District Court proceedings would undermine public confidence in the judicial process. Thus, the world’s wealthiest company, having been convicted of massive antitrust violations after drawing out legal proceedings for several years, seeks to delay further the imposition of remedial actions against it because a trial judge spoke to reporters when he shouldn’t have. We believe the public would view the judicial process with great cynicism should the Circuit Court allow this to occur.
“We can only hope that Microsoft will at some point abandon it’s delaying tactics and confront the reality and consequences of its unlawful conduct.”