FC: Day 1 of 2 in Microsoft hearing: DOJ pressed hard, so is MS

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[So I'm back from Day 2 of 2 before the MS appeals court, and the was
a bloodbath. It's an awe-inspiring, and somewhat terrifying,
experience to see seven judges rip chunks of flesh from the DOJ
attorney so effectively and efficiently. It started when DOJ was
trying to defend the breakup order, but that was a mere prequel
compared to the show when DOJ tried to defend Judge Jackson's habit of
saying snide things about Microsoft to reporters. The only question:
What metaphor to use for the judges when I write my article? Sharks
and chum? A pack of wolves? Jackals? --Declan]


http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,42033,00.html
   
   Intriguing Questions in MS Appeal
   by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
   2:00 a.m. Feb. 27, 2001 PST
   
   WASHINGTON -- U.S. government lawyers may have spent four years
   girding for this week's Microsoft hearing before an appeals panel, but
   on Monday they were the ones facing the most pointed questions.
   
   By all rights, the first day of the unusual two-day hearing before the
   seven appeals judges should have been a good show for the Justice
   Department: The topics were monopoly power and illegal tying, the
   linchpins of the antitrust accusations against Microsoft. The more
   vulnerable portions of the case -- the delayed breakup and the conduct
   of the trial judge -- come up Tuesday.
   
   But during Monday's six hours of hearings, members of the D.C. Circuit
   Court of Appeals fired critical and far-ranging questions at attorneys
   on both sides, and reserved noticeably more ammunition for lawyers
   representing the Justice Department and the state attorneys general.
   
   [...]

http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,42011,00.html
   
   Red Hat Dares MS to Debate
   by Declan McCullagh (declan () wired com)
   2:00 a.m. Feb. 26, 2001 PST
   
   WASHINGTON -- A Microsoft executive's recent quip about the
   purportedly un-American characteristics of non-proprietary software
   did more than send open-source fans into a tizzy.
   
   It also sent companies supporting the Linux operating system a clear
   signal: You've become important enough for Microsoft to attack
   directly.
   
   Red Hat CEO Matthew Szulik said that his company is usually
   apolitical, but he'd relish the chance to wrangle with Microsoft execs
   in Washington, D.C. -- and tell Congress why the feds should not shy
   away from open-source software but instead embrace it.

   
   "I think it's time to take the debate up a notch or two," Szulik said
   in a telephone interview. "Red Hat, as a representative of the
   open-source community, would love to have an opportunity to provide a
   counter-argument to (Microsoft's) claims to the U.S. Senate. We'd love
   to bring the brightest minds in the open-source community -- both
   within and outside of Red Hat -- to the U.S. Senate."
   
[...]



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