Microsoft Appeals Federal Judge’s Browser Ruling Justice Department Official Says Company’s Actions Fail To Meet Requirements Of Injunction

Microsoft Corp. on Monday appealed a court order that it stop pressuring computer makers to include its Internet software in PCs and said it would sell stripped-down versions of its Windows operating system to comply with the preliminary injunction.

But an official with the Justice Department, which has sued Microsoft over its business practices, said the company’s latest actions fail to comply with the U.S. judge’s decree. Computer makers were seen as unlikely to buy the version of Windows software that works without Microsoft’s Internet Explorer browser. That’s because it lacks many of the functions of the Windows 95 software Microsoft currently sells for controlling the basic functions of PCs.

The Microsoft strategy was part of a two-pronged response to the preliminary injunction ordered last Thursday by U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson.

The judge told Microsoft to stop, at least temporarily, requiring manufacturers to install its Internet Explorer on personal computers as a condition of using its enormously popular Windows operating system.

Microsoft argued in its appeal that the judge went beyond what the Justice Department asked him to decide. William H. Neukom, Microsoft’s senior vice president for law and corporate affairs, said the court was asked to consider whether the company had violated a 1995 agreement with the Justice Department.

“The court denied the Justice Department’s petition for contempt; the case should have ended there,” he said. “But on its own initiative, … without giving Microsoft notice or an opportunity to defend itself, (the court) issued a preliminary injunction.”

The Justice Department claimed Microsoft violated the 1995 agreement, which was approved by a federal court, barring anti-competitive practices in the software market. The government sought a $1 million-a-day fine if the company refused to obey a contempt finding.

The Justice Department has the option of going back to the judge if it believes Microsoft has violated the spirit of the judge’s order.

Microsoft’s Internet Explorer and its chief competitor, Netscape Communication Corp.’s Navigator, enable computer users to find and retrieve information on the Internet.

Microsoft said it sent a letter Monday to all licensed computer manufacturers informing them that pending the appeal, they have the option of shipping Windows 95 including Internet Explorer, or of removing Internet Explorer.

Microsoft said it also would provide computer makers with a version of Windows 95 from which Internet Explorer can be removed with less disruption to the remaining elements of the operating system, or would give them the original version of Windows 95 without Internet Explorer.