[link|http://www.siliconvalley.com/mld/siliconvalley/business/columnists/dan_gillmor/5540542.htm|Dan Gillmor article]
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia will hear an appeal from two technology industry groups and two states in the Microsoft antitrust settlement -- and the way the court granted the appeal suggests that Microsoft and its round-heeled pals in the U.S. Justice Department may have to answer some uncomfortable questions.

Massachusetts and West Virginia didn't sign off on the craven deal that rewards illegal behavior and invites an unrepentant Microsoft to keep on stifling competition. Meanwhile, the Computer & Communications Industry Association and the Software and Information Industry Association filed a separate appeal.

Two elements of the appeals court's decision are at least interesting, and possibly important. First, the court will hear this appeal ``en banc,'' which is to say with all of the sitting judges present; normally such cases go to a three-judge panel and then, on occasion, to the full court.

Second, the matter has been expedited -- put in front of some other cases in the schedule. A November hearing is still a long time from now, but in the legal world, I'm told, this is lickety-split.

Reading these tea leaves is difficult, at best. I'm hoping the appeals judges are furious that their 2001 ruling, which unanimously found repeated lawbreaking on Microsoft's part and returned the case to a federal judge for action to stop the lawbreaking, was effectively gutted by the Justice Department's giveaway deal to Microsoft.

It's also possible that the judges are happy with the way the case turned out and want to be done with it, once and for all. But why would they take the appeal if that was true?