Speaking of illegal operations, Microsoft's enemies were turning up the heat Monday. The awkwardly named Project to Promote Competition and Innovation in the Digital Age -- or ProComp -- said it would start lobbying for a far broader investigation of Redmond's supposed monopolistic practices. ProComp's membership reads like a Who's Who of Microsoft haters: Netscape, American Airlines, Oracle, Sun Microsystems, and Sybase. Taking their case to the Capitol is former presidential contender turned "strategic adviser" Bob Dole. Which is quite a turnaround for a man who told the Senate, in June 1995, that the DOJ's investigation of Microsoft was "out of control." Dole's 1998 take: "The Justice Department is doing the right thing."
If Gates is losing his battle on the Hill, he may do better in the courts. On Tuesday, Microsoft heads to federal appeals court, where it and the Department of Justice will each have 20 minutes to argue Microsoft's appeal of last year's court order by Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson. At issue: Whether Microsoft can be forced to let computer makers buy Windows 95 without the Internet Explorer browser built in, and whether "special master" Lawrence Lessig is allowed to investigate them. That's one operation Gates would love to shut down.