“According to the common wisdom among trial watchers, delay is
Microsoft’s strongest weapon against the Department of Justice.
…Given the glacial pace of the legal system… via the appeals
process, Microsoft… could drag the case out until at least 2003
or 2004.
Not so, say some legal experts. A rarely used section of the
federal antitrust statute may allow the DOJ to circumvent most of
the standard process. If so, Microsoft could run out of appeals by
the fall of next year.
Under the Antitrust Expediting Act… the case… [could] go
straight to the Supreme Court… the Supreme Court could also
expedite the case, hearing arguments at the end of its current
session or in special session, and potentially could issue a
decision as early as late summer or early fall of 2000.”