Rowe urges judge to reject Microsoft plan Private class action suit at issue

AUGUSTA – On behalf of Maine consumers, state Attorney General Steven Rowe is urging a federal judge to reject a proposed settlement of private class action lawsuits brought against Microsoft Corp. The suits are separate from the pending government legal action against the company.

“We now question both the appropriateness and the adequacy of the proposed settlement,” Rowe wrote on behalf of Maine, and the Attorneys General of Connecticut, Iowa and Vermont in a letter to a federal judge in Maryland.

The United States District Court for Maryland is where several private class action lawsuits brought against the computer company from every state have been consolidated. There are two such suits brought on behalf of Maine consumers.

“I have a responsibility to Maine consumers,” Rowe said. “We must ensure that the relief afforded in this settlement is adequate, appropriate and in the public interest.”

Judge Fredrick Motz has scheduled a hearing next week on the proposed settlement which would set up a foundation, funded by Microsoft, that would donate both hardware and software to “disadvantaged” schools nationwide. The proposal defines such schools as those with 70 percent of the students eligible for the federal school lunch program.

Less than 20 Maine schools, Rowe said, would qualify under the criteria in the proposed settlement.

“The attorney general is acting in his role as representative of all Maine citizens,” said Assistant Attorney General Francis Ackerman. “He has a duty to act on the behalf of all citizens, even though the state is not part of the suit.”

Ackerman said there are also concerns the procedures the foundation would set up to monitor the schools could prove burdensome to schools. He said there are also concerns the hardware and software being discussed would be helpful to all schools.

“We have many questions about how this proposed settlement will affect Maine citizens,” he said, “and we think the questions should be answered before the settlement is approved.”

While Maine can express its concerns to the judge, it is not a party to the suit. Ackerman said that like the federal and state government antitrust suit, Maine chose several years ago not to actually join in any of the lawsuits.

“Why? That is an excellent question that I cannot answer,” he said. “That decision was made before this attorney general took office.”

The Microsoft cases are some of the most complex under way in the United States, according to legal experts.