14 DAY TRIAL // The Iowa class-action antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft has taken a new turn as plaintiffs have accused Microsoft of foul play. Moreover, the plaintiffs claim to posses information that illustrates the Redmond Company's wrong doing. Microsoft is accused of allegedly having violated the antitrust agreement with the United States Department of Justice dating back all the way to 2002.
Microsoft representatives have remained skeptical in relation to the so-called new information that the plaintiffs' attorney Roxanne Conlin claims to have. Furthermore, Microsoft attorney Rich Wallis downplayed the accusation and said that the federal government through independent parties has been monitoring the evolution of the 2002 antitrust settlement and that the claim of additional information is without basis.
In fact, the judge in the Iowa case, Scott Rosenberg denied Conlin's request to address directly the Justice Department and the Iowa attorney general with the new information. Conlin will need a court order or a subpoena in order to be able to present the information outside the court.
In relation to the 2002 antitrust case, the Redmond Company's legal representatives have to appear before a federal judge on a quarterly basis. In December 2006, at the last hearing, Microsoft was given the green light to continue on the same track.
The plaintiffs claim to have unveiled evidence that Microsoft has not shared the application programming interfaces according to the 2002 antitrust case. In excess of $300 million are at stake, the sum that the plaintiffs claim were forced to pay due to the Redmond Company's anticompetitive policy.