US Report: DoJ pre-trial sparring continues

Michael Moeller ZDNet.co.uk

Published: 19 Oct 1998 16:22 BST

Late last Friday, the US Department of Justice (DoJ) filed yet another motion in US District Court seeking to compel Microsoft to open up fully its sales and OEM databases. The filing comes on the heels of an order issued by the court on Oct. 9 instructing Microsoft to comply with the DoJ's request.

Although Microsoft and the government worked over the course of three days querying the 80GB databases on Microsoft's campus, the DoJ in its filing accused Microsoft of withholding access to substantial information about the sales and pricing of Windows and Internet Explorer. The DoJ also accused Microsoft of altering the data.

In a rebuttal filing, Microsoft said the DoJ has had access to the data regarding OEMs and is looking to gather information not part of its original filings and requests. Microsoft accused the government of trying to rewrite its original requests in an attempt to gather information for future litigation and investigations.