So "Redmond Justice" is on hiatus, the star lawyers are probably off sunning themselves on some beach somewhere, and the show's fans are battling withdrawal symptoms until the trial resumes sometime in mid-April. But just because the show's not on the air doesn't mean that a lot of behind-the-scenes work isn't being done. Even as we speak, the "Redmond Justice" writers are huddled together in smoke-filled rooms brainstorming just what will happen next on everyone's favorite antitrust courtroom drama.

During the last several weeks of the trial, it became more and more obvious that the writers were foreshadowing a pretty solid government win. (Microsoft's defense, overall, may well have been better presented by an organ grinder's trained monkey and a pair of Furbies-- with or without batteries.) But once the verdict rolls in, then what? Well, according to the New York Times, those attorneys general of the nineteen U.S. states that are co-litigants in the Justice Department's case are kicking around all kinds of ideas now that they feel they're so likely to win. The remedy listed as "least likely" is a breakup of Microsoft into multiple "Baby Bills," each reponsible for a different software unit-- as in, one company does Windows, another does Office, a third does Explorer and Outlook, etc. Another possibility is that Microsoft might get splintered into multiple companies that all work on all of Microsoft's products, each competing against the other. Still another option is to force Microsoft to license the Windows source code to other companies, "instantly creating competition in the operating system business." All interesting plot twists, to be sure.

It's important to remember that this is all conjecture at this point-- it's certainly still possible for the inimitable Judge Jackson to rule in Microsoft's favor, making the whole issue of penalties moot. Sure, the writers would have to come up with a pretty serious twist for Microsoft to emerge from this battle as the winners, but we don't want to underestimate them; after all, they came up with all that great stuff about the faked video evidence, which was just about the last thing we ever expected to see in an antitrust trial. Here's hoping that the writers keep us all guessing.