A verdict in the Microsoft antitrust case has been postponed until the end of next week after the court-appointed mediator sought extra time for further rounds of settlement talks.
Lawyers close to the case said yesterday that the mediator, Mr Richard Posner, had requested a delay in the legal ruling to allow both sides to consider the latest proposals to emerge from Microsoft, the US justice department and 19 state attorney-generals.
Judge Thomas Jackson, the trial judge in the landmark case, told both sides last week that he was prepared to deliver his verdict this week, unless clear progress was made in the voluntary mediation. The judge's attempt to accelerate the pace of the talks appears to have succeeded. However, it remains unclear whether both sides have moved closer to settling the epic legal battle, or whether the negotiators are merely exploring their options in case the talks fail.
Lawyers on all sides expect the judge to rule against the world's largest software company, finding that Microsoft broke sections of the Sherman antitrust act. If Judge Jackson delivers his legal ruling next week, the trial would move into a new phase, examining possible remedies for what the judge has already described as Microsoft's anti-competitive conduct.
Hopes were raised at the end of last week that the two sides might be close to a deal, but government sources suggested that Microsoft's concessions failed fully to address their concerns about the company's ability to harm its rivals.
Meanwhile, lawyers on the government's side remain divided over the terms of a final settlement, as splits have emerged between many of the state attorneys-general and the justice department.
Microsoft has offered to drop discriminatory contracts with computer makers and software developers, in terms of its pricing and the timely delivery of technical details of its latest products. It first offered to drop the discriminatory clauses well before the trial effectively ended in June.
But it is not clear how far negotiators have moved in settling the key technical issue raised by the trial - Microsoft's ability to integrate new features, such as Internet technology, into its best-selling Windows operating software. While some reports suggested Microsoft might be prepared to separate its Internet browser from Windows, sources close to the talks said the reports were "substantially inaccurate".
Microsoft has repeatedly said it is impossible to remove Internet-browsing technology from Windows 98 because the two pieces of software are deeply integrated into a single operating system.
Judge Jackson's legal ruling follows his factual findings, released in November, which sided with the government lawyers on almost every allegation. The judge found that the company had harmed consumers and "engaged in a concerted series of actions" to protect its monopoly.
