Microsoft Receives Boost From Judge

The judge who will decide the Microsoft antitrust case acknowledged Wednesday in surprisingly candid remarks that the pending $4 billion purchase of Netscape by America Online “might be a very significant change of the playing field.”

On the last day of the trial before a holiday recess, U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson agreed to allow Microsoft to review paperwork that Netscape and AOL submitted to the Justice Department last week seeking approval of their $4 billion deal.

Saying the purchase of Netscape “could very well have an immediate effect on the market,” Jackson said he might also permit Microsoft to ask the companies for additional confidential documents to help defend itself against the government’s antitrust charges.

AOL spokesman Jim Whitney would not say whether the company will fight Microsoft’s efforts to review its merger documents.