There are so many imponderables and possibilities. For one thing, the appeals panel could take the unlikely step of handing the case back to Jackson for more evidence gathering. In other scenarios, proceedings could go from the panel directly to the Supreme Court, or detour through an en banc hearing in which the entire DC Circuit sits in judgment. Zuckerman points to a Title VII discrimination case involving Vassar College in which the 2nd Circuit took a year to rule. Assuming both parties don't settle and the case heads for the Supreme Court, the assumption is that the court will agree to hear the case.
Experts say that's particularly likely if the government loses.
Knotty cases are usually decided toward the end of the court's term, which means the Supreme Court might well rule on it in late June 2002 or 2003. More than a year later, that boast seems premature. To me, it's all part of the insanity of the government through antitrust litigation trying to regulate the absolute cutting edge of technology. Still, it's infinitely speedier than US v. IBM, which the government eventually abandoned. Wired Digital Inc. All rights reserved.