WASHINGTON -- Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly was named Friday to decide how Microsoft should be punished for violating federal antitrust laws.
Kollar-Kotelly, an appointee of President Clinton, takes over the case from U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, who had ordered Microsoft split in two. A federal appeals court reversed Jackson's breakup order in June and on Friday ordered the case be returned to a lower court under direction of a new judge.
Kollar-Kotelly, 58, worked as an attorney in the Department of Health and Human Services and the Justice Department's Criminal Division before being named to the federal bench in 1997.
Four judges removed themselves from consideration in the case, without saying why, the court's announcement said.
Seventeen judges were available to take the civil case, but it is common for judges already involved in complex, protracted cases to excuse themselves from the selection process.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson found Microsoft guilty of antitrust violations last year and ordered the company split in two. But the company appealed that ruling, in part because of assertions that Jackson had shown bias against Microsoft.
The federal appellate court subsequently embraced Jackson's findings that the company had violated the law, but did not endorse his suggested remedy: that Microsoft be broken into two parts.
The appellate judges based their decision in part on outside statements by Jackson that criticized Microsoft founder Bill Gates as arrogant. The appeals court said those comments seriously tainted the case.
The Justice Department, which represents the government in the case, welcomed the appellate court's move.
"We are pleased that the case is back in district court and we're anxious to proceed," said Gina Talamona, spokeswoman for the department's Antitrust Division.
Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler said the move was expected by the company and declined to comment further.
The development came as the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant released the final code for Windows XP to manufacturers, the last production step before Microsoft's new operating system can hit shelves in October.
A symbolic send-off via helicopter was planned for later Friday at the company's headquarters. Next, manufacturers will mass-produce the desktop operating system for distribution on new computers and in stores.
The official signoff virtually eradicated the possibility that Microsoft would tweak Windows XP in response to anticompetitive concerns. Politicians, competitors and some of the attorneys general who brought an antitrust suit against Microsoft have charged that with the new system, the software giant continues to use its dominance in the desktop market to muscle out competition.
Windows XP includes many new features that are currently standalone products made by competitors, including a music video player, an instant messaging system and DVD player.
Gates said Friday that Windows XP is "the best operating system Microsoft has ever built."
