Microsoft case goes to the Supreme Court

Microsoft's dispute with the US Department of Justice (DoJ) will proceed to the Supreme Court, a judge ruled yesterday.

The decision deals a blow to the software giant's wish for the case to go to the Court of Appeal, which has previously found in favour of Microsoft.

However, the company has been granted a stay on the business restrictions that Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson imposed when he ruled that it be split into two. The restrictions included the requirement that Microsoft allow original equipment manufacturers to alter certain aspects of Windows.

But last week the same judge ordered that the Supreme Court should take up the matter because of the "general public importance in the administration of justice".

The decision is seen as a victory for the US government, which has been urging Judge Jackson to pass the case to the highest court. It is rare for anti-trust cases to bypass the appeals stage and the DoJ argued that this is necessary because of its importance to the US economy.

A Microsoft spokesman said the company will continue its plea to appeal but welcomed the decision to grant it a stay on the business restrictions.