Sorry, "Redmond Justice" fans; if you longed to hear the pitter-patter of little feet after Microsoft was cleft into two or more Babysofts, it may in fact be time to let the dream die. We already knew that the Appeals Court tossed out Judge Jackson's order that Microsoft be split into two organisms, not because it disagreed with Jackson's ruling that the Redmond Beast wielded monopoly power and had illegally abused that power, but because Jackson himself had been a naughty little judge and had granted interviews to the press before the case was over. The case was kicked back to a lower court to decide two issues: whether Microsoft had broken the law by tying Internet Explorer to Windows (one specific point that the Appeals Court apparently felt wasn't properly resolved), and how the company should be punished to ensure that it wouldn't break antitrust laws again.

At that point, a breakup was still possible, though perhaps less likely; if she was so inclined, the new judge (the lovely and talented Colleen Kollar-Kotelly) could still decide that Microsoft would best be broken of its years-long antitrust habits by going under the knife, organizationally speaking. Now, though, the probability of the court ordering Microsoft to be carved into bite-size chunks is positively remote. As faithful viewer Chollyhead tearfully informed us, the Department of Justice has announced that it no longer seeks to have Microsoft drawn and quartered. Instead, according to a CNNfn article, the government will seek "court-ordered changes to the way the software maker conducts business." Ah, yes... because that 1995 consent decree that arose from Microsoft's last tangle with the feds was so darned effective. Never mind that, as CNET reported so long ago, it was Microsoft's blatant violation of said consent decree that led to the current round of "Redmond Justice" in the first place. It's four years later and we're just about back to square one. Now that's progress!

As for why the government has ditched its crusade to have Microsoft split up the middle (and, incidentally, has also decided not to "pursue further proceedings on the tying count of the original complaint"), there are a couple of interpretations open to you. One is that the government is finally sick and tired of this "fast-track" case that has been dragging on in one form or another for four frickin' years (heck, Microsoft was found guilty almost a year and a half ago!) and has finally decided to plow right through Microsoft's endless stalling tactics and get the case locked down and finished ASAP-- and before the official Windows XP release date next month. Perhaps the government has come to the conclusion that a split-up Microsoft probably wouldn't work anyway, and that strict conduct restrictions will do more to prevent future antitrust infractions.

The other more cynical possibility is that, as implied by Slashdot, this decision was largely political in nature. Reportedly the DoJ was "instructed by the Bush Administration to cease its drive to break up Microsoft." Not that we didn't all see it coming, of course, but it's still disillusioning to the few of us with a teensy spark of idealism left to watch it get stomped out by Microsoft's "Let's Lobby Bush And Stall Until He's In Office" plan working exactly the way the company had hoped. But hey, we all gotta grow up sometime.

And if you're really desperate to keep the dream alive, don't forget: just because the government is no longer asking for a Microsoft breakup doesn't necessarily mean that Judge Kollar-Kotelly won't order one anyway. We just wouldn't bet the farm on it if we were you.