(Washington, D.C.) - In an ongoing effort to inform taxpayers of the high cost of the continued litigation against Microsoft by nine state attorneys general and the District of Columbia, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today released the seventh of its weekly updates estimating the amount of money being risked by the states at taxpayers' expense.  The total amount spent – now $1,120,000 – can be tracked through a spending meter located on CAGW's website, www.cagw.org.  At the conclusion of the trial, on behalf of the taxpayers in the nine states and D.C., CAGW will present an invoice to the attorneys general for the final cost.

"At the current rate, taxpayers are going to end up with a rather hefty legal bill," CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  "Microsoft's competitors and the remaining state attorneys general are the only ones seeking to prolong the trial.  The state attorneys general have allowed Microsoft’s competitors to directly influence their handling of the case by seeking their input on legal matters, in addition to lining their pockets with thousands of dollars in campaign donations.  Taxpayers should be outraged that the attorneys general are using public dollars to represent private interests."

A videotaped deposition by California Assistant Attorney General James Greene shown in court yesterday confirmed the active role of Microsoft’s competitors.  Greene revealed that before the states filed their proposed remedies, they met with and elicited comments from representatives from Oracle, ProComp, and AOL.  Greene also unveiled the true impact of the states’ remedy.  It would make Internet Explorer a “public utility” that would be available to the entire software industry and force Microsoft to spend millions of dollars and incalculable hours testing every possible permutation of an “unbundled” Windows operating system – a draconian result equal to the breakup rejected by the Court of Appeals.

To determine how much money is at risk for taxpayers, CAGW has repeatedly asked for information regarding the states' expenditures by filing Freedom of Information Act requests, most recently in January 2002.  The states have either denied the requests or provided incomplete responses.  California, which is leading the effort to prolong the litigation, has not revealed the current costs it is bearing in this case.

As a result of this lack of response, CAGW estimated the cost of the trial based on information collected from other leading litigation firms in Washington.  The analysis reveals that each day in court costs at least $30,000.  Once pretrial preparation, estimated at $250,000, is factored in the total cost by the end of this week will be $1,120,000.

"It’s time for the states to come clean regarding the amount of money they are spending.  These states can better use the resources that are tied up in this case on issues that will serve the greater good, such as homeland security," concluded Schatz.  "The federal government and nine other states have already settled the case, and so should the remaining states."

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.