company for failing to recognise it broke the law.He accompanied his main order to break up the company into two and imposelimitations on future business practices with an excoriating six-pagememorandum that labeled the company "untrust-worthy."

Jackson ridiculed Microsoft for seeking essentially a second trial toexamine the merits of breaking up the company as a remedy to prevent futureabuse of its monopoly in the personal computer operating system market."From the inception of this case Microsoft knew, from well-establishedSupreme Court precedents dating from the beginning of the last century, thata mandated divestiture was a possibility, if not a probability, in the eventof an adverse result at trial," Jackson said.

A structural remedy had become "imperative" and the company's proposedalternative of limited restrictions on its business practices was "plainlyinadequate," Jackson wrote.

"Microsoft proved untrustworthy in the past," he said.

"Microsoft as it is presently organised and led is unwilling to accept thenotion that it broke the law or accede to an order amending its conduct," hesaid.

The breakup plan is designed to "terminate the unlawful conduct, to preventits repetition in the future, and to revive competition in the relevantmarkets," the federal judge said.

Jackson said the company had shown no willingness to voluntarily change itsbusiness practices in any significant way to remedy the situation.

"Indeed, it has announced its intention to appeal even the imposition ofmodest conduct remedies it has itself proposed as an alternative tononstructural remedies" sought by the government, Jackson wrote.

In a rare interview with the Washington Post, Jackson said he had littlechoice but to accept the proposal of the justice department and the statesbecause he wanted to avoid establishing a conduct-restraining order thatrequired an onerous regulatory scheme.

He said he would have preferred allowing market forces to accomplish theremedy. "I've always thought the best remedy was the one the parties couldhave negotiated between themselves," the Post quoted him as saying.

Jackson said the lawsuit could still be settled out of court. He urged bothsides to "swallow their own reluctance to compromise and reach a remedy thatboth sides, if not elated by, nevertheless are willing to extend."

Asked if he would approve a government motion to send the case quickly tothe Supreme Court, bypassing the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit, hesaid, "I am favourably inclined towards it. I'll look at whatever ispresented to me."