WASHINGTON -- Microsoft said on Friday that it might appeal an appeals court decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.
In June, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit halted the breakup of Microsoft and sent the case back to a different judge -- but ruled unanimously that Microsoft had violated antitrust laws.
That left Microsoft with two obvious choices: Accept the partial defeat and focus on persuading a new judge not to levy harsh penalties, or continue with its appeals.
If Friday's filing is any indication, Microsoft is hoping the nation's highest court will see things more favorably. Microsoft says: "With the benefit of this court's narrowing and focusing of the issues, the Supreme Court may well undertake a review of one or more questions presented by the case now."
Microsoft is asking the appeals court to reconsider its decision that the world's most prominent antitrust defendant illegally melded Internet Explorer with Windows. If the appeals court decides not to change its mind, then Microsoft has a week to take the case to the Supremes.
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Missing laptops: Rep. James Sensenbrenner (R-Wisconsin) has one simple question: What happened to the FBI's missing laptops?
Sensenbrenner, the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, says he wants to learn the truth in the case of the mysteriously vanishing 184 laptop computers, some of which reportedly contained classified data.
In a letter Friday to Attorney General John Ashcroft, Sensenbrenner asked 14 sets of who-what-where-when-why-how questions. An example: "Did any of the laptop computers contain or could they have contained classified information? What other sensitive law enforcement information is believed to have been contained on any of the computers that are missing?"
Laptop disappearance seems to be a problem plaguing every government nowadays.
In April, a U.K. Defense Ministry laptop with "national security secrets" became lost after an absent-minded official left it in a taxi. In Australia last year, 73 laptops from the country's Defense Department were stolen, according to a news report. Also last year, a U.S. diplomat lost his security clearance for loose laptop security.
You gotta wonder: Haven't these guys ever heard of hard drive encryption?
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The missing intern: Metro police said this week that Chandra Levy's computer may offer some clues about what happened to the missing intern.
The Washington Post reported this week that Levy was looking for directions to a mansion in Washington's Rock Creek Park the day she disappeared.
But searches near the Klingle Mansion proved fruitless, and police said Friday they're still stymied.
Other websites Levy reportedly visited include those of the Modesto Bee, the Drudge Report, the House Agricultural Committee -- on which ex-paramour Gary Condit serves -- Southwest Airlines and Amtrak.
On Thursday, District police pledged to release a fuller list, but they still haven't done so.
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In brief: The World Bank has been accused of misspending over $100 million in poverty funds on an expensive new website.... The Swedish Supreme Court has struck down the country's law that follows the European Data Directive, according to a report by a university professor. Jacob Palme says the court decided the directive imperiled free expression and criticism of corporate officials.... Eight video-game makers asked a judge this week to dismiss a lawsuit against them. They say there's no evidence that their games were the real cause of Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold's slaughter at Columbine High School.... Watch out, Silicon Valley: The California attorney general seems about to get a 400 percent budget increase for antitrust prosecutions. The Pacific Research Institute's Helen Chaney says that's unneeded and notes that California has already spent $1.4 million pursuing Microsoft through the courts.
