This Is Truly Insane

Judge: Microsoft Must Give States Windows Code
Microsoft Corp. (news/quote) will have to supply the computer code for its Windows program to a group of states seeking stiffer antitrust sanctions against the software giant, a federal judge has ruled.

Nine state attorneys general had argued that they needed to see the Windows source code in order to verify Microsoft's claim it could not offer a simpler version of the Windows personal computer operating system, stripped of features like the Internet Explorer browser.

``It seems to me that if your side has access to it, then the other side, frankly, should have access to it,'' U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly told Microsoft's lawyers Friday in a conference call with attorneys from both sides.

If their code is released to competitors, would Microsoft even have standing to sue the States?

Judgehttp://www.nytimes.com/reuters/technology/tech-microsoft-code.html?todaysheadlines&pagewanted=all