DOJ replies to Microsoft's appeal

The U.S. Department of Justice gave its formal reply on Monday to Microsoft Corporation's appeal of Judge Thomas Jackson's preliminary injunction In the reply, the DOJ says Microsoft will not face major hardship by complyingwith the injunction and therefore should not be granted an expedited hearing.

Tomorrow, Microsoft is due in court to file its rebuttal to charges by theDOJ that it has failed to comply with the injunction. The DOJ, meanwhile, has until December 29th to provide more evidence that Microsoft is notcomplying and should be held in contempt of court.

After that, the two sides will meet in court again on January 13th to pleatheir respective cases to the judge. In moment described as "remarkable" bythose who witnessed it, Judge Jackson announced last week that he was ableto successfully remove Internet Explorer from Windows 95 himself and woulduse the January 13 to "determine whether [he] can believe [his] own eyes.