With only a few more days until "Redmond Justice" heads back into the courtroom, you can bet that fans of the antitrust melodrama are getting prepared: we expect the country will see a sudden spike in the money spent on snack foods and carbonated beverages as people gear up for justice parties everywhere. Don't be late to the supermarket, or the sight of empty shelves in the junk food aisle may force you to break into your secret Y2K stash of Doritos and Tater Tots. And also don't forget to prime yourself with the latest pre-game news from the out-of-court depositions taking place this week-- of particular interest is an IBM exec's testimony that Microsoft wielded the big, bad monopoly stick when the PC maker supported Netscape's browser over Internet Explorer.

Faithful viewer and antitrust fan Jerry O'Neil pointed out a CNET article which details how Garry Norris, IBM's former "director of software strategy and strategic relations" (geez, we have to imagine that he'd have needed a "continued on back" to fit that title on a business card) is expected to reveal how Microsoft threatened to yank IBM's Windows license if Big Blue didn't agree to lessen its support for Netscape Navigator and other software products that compete with Microsoft wares. Reportedly, when Microsoft's Joachim Kempin was negotiating with Norris about this stuff, he went so far as to say, "you can buy [Windows] at retail." Ouch! Talk about hardball.

This testimony cuts right to the heart of the matter, since the Big Nasty Evil™ that Microsoft is accused of committing involves using their monopoly power in one market (operating system sales, in which Windows has a greater than 90% market share) to crush competition in other markets (web browsers, groupware technology, etc.). As far as we know, up 'til now no PC manufacturer has gone so far as to testify that Microsoft flatly threatened to cancel a Windows license unless other Microsoft technologies were promoted ahead of the competition. So we can all expect some serious fur to fly when the case goes back to court next week. Start thawing those Pizza Rolls and make sure you've got enough ice for drinks...