A US appeals court on Thursday overturned a lower-court order that would have split Microsoft Corp in two, but left intact the lower-court finding that some of its business conduct amounted to illegal maintenance of its Windows monopoly. The seven-judge appeals panel agreed that Microsoft holds a monopoly in personal computer operating systems and some of its competitive practices amounted to illegal use of that monopoly.
The US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia also ordered that a new lower court judge look at whether Microsoft illegally tied its Internet browser to the Windows operating system to maintain that monopoly. The judges overturned a ruling by lower court judge, Thomas Penfield Jackson, that Microsoft had tried to monopolize the market for Internet browsers.
The appeals panel also rebuked Jackson for giving the "appearance of partiality" through his media interviews during the trial. Bureau Report