(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 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.  "People want to see the end of this litigation.  The only ones who are interested in continuing the trial, aside from Microsoft's competitors, are the remaining state attorneys general.  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."

Videotaped testimony by California Assistant Attorney General James Greene confirmed the active role of Microsoft’s competitors.  Greene revealed that before the states filed their revised proposed final judgment they met with and elicited comments from representatives from Oracle, ProComp, and AOL.  Greene also unveiled the true impact of the states’ remedy:  to make Internet Explorer a “public utility” that would be available to the entire software industry.

According to campaign contribution reports, California Attorney General Bill Lockyer has received more than $75,000 from Microsoft competitors, including Oracle Corporation.  Kansas Attorney General Carla Stovall, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, has received as much as $20,000 from the likes of Oracle and Sun Microsystems.

"It is clear that Microsoft's competitors are having a strong impact on this case.  The state attorney generals are using taxpayers' dollars to fund a trial in which they are essential representing private interests," continued Schatz.  "When the elected officials in charge of the Microsoft litigation have a personal interest in continuing the case, the states should come clean regarding the amount of money they are spending."

CAGW has repeatedly asked for information regarding the states' expenditures in the case by filing Freedom of Information Act requests with the attorneys general, 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 any of the current costs it is bearing in this case.

As a result of the lack of response from the states 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.

"The remaining 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 too 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.