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Microsoft plans to summon witnesses to fight breakup

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By MICHAEL J. MARTINEZ

AP Business Writer

SEATTLE (AP) - Microsoft plans to ask for authority to seek

government records and subpoena witnesses to support its argument

that breaking the company in two would be going too far, a company

spokesman said today.

Jim Cullinan said he expects a long discovery process to find

out how the Justice Department came up with its "Draconian and

overbearing" proposal.

The company is scheduled to file its response to the agency's

proposed remedy in the antitrust case with U.S. District Judge

Thomas Penfield Jackson on May 10.

Microsoft's general counsel, William Neukom, told The New York

Times on Monday that the effort could last "well into the fall."

Government officials say Microsoft is stalling, possibly to

delay a ruling on a remedy until the next presidential

administration takes office.

In theory, a new administration could settle or drop the federal

case at any time. But the parallel case brought by 19 state

attorneys general who are the Justice Department's partners in the

case would remain active, and the attorneys general have repeatedly

said they will persevere.

The Justice Department and 17 of the attorneys general filed

their proposal on Friday to split the company in two, with one

company holding the Windows operating system and the other

producing Microsoft's application programs.

The judge is not bound to accept Microsoft's request. He has

said he wants to complete the remedy phase quickly. Microsoft made

a similar request for months of delay to prepare for the opening of

the trial two years ago, and Jackson rejected it.

Microsoft argues that the government's breakup proposal will

make it far more difficult, if not impossible, for the company to

develop innovative products that result from putting together a

wide range of software technologies.

AP-NY-05-02-00 1256EDT