A Democratic member of the US Senate Judiciary on Monday said he will call for congressional hearings into Microsoft Corp's "anticompetitive practices."
Senator Charles Schumer, of New York, said he was holding a press conference yesterday to call for committee hearings to investigate Microsoft and "demand that Windows XP allow users to choose their media player, messenger service and other applications instead of being forced to use Microsoft applications."
The statement said Schumer will "discuss the possibility of enjoining the release of Windows XP." It says he has written a letter to Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer demanding changes to Windows XP, which is scheduled for release in October.
A spokesman for Judiciary Committee chairman, Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, said Microsoft's business practices will be one part of a broader hearing in September on the subject of how to promote competition on the Internet.
Leahy's spokesman, David Carle, said he had not seen Schumer's statement and could not comment on it.
A spokesman for Microsoft could not immediately be reached for comment.
Schumer's comments echo the sentiments expressed by some of the state attorneys general pursuing the case against Microsoft.
Some of the state prosecutors say they may raise Windows XP as evidence that the company continues to abuse its monopoly power because the new operating system is packed with new software features, such as instant messaging and media player software, that may exclude competitors.
Some Wall Street analysts who follow Microsoft, meanwhile, are hoping the company can forestall any sanctions against it until after the release of Windows XP.
On June 28 a federal appeals court upheld lower-court findings that Microsoft abused its monopoly in the market for personal computer operating systems, in part by excluding competing software.
The appeals court overturned a lower court's order that Microsoft be broken into two companies. It ordered that a new lower court judge consider remedies against the Redmond, Washington-based company and determine whether it illegally tied its Internet browser to Windows.
Since then, the Justice Department has asked the appeals court to speed up the case and has appointed a veteran trial attorney to carry the litigation forward.
Microsoft, meanwhile, has asked for a re-hearing on part of the June 28 ruling and said it may appeal to the US Supreme Court.
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