JUSTICE VS. MICROSOFT

The Justice Department dealt Microsoft Corp. a stunning setback by suing to block the software giant's acquisition of Intuit Inc., maker of the predominant personal finance software Quicken. It would have been the largest software merger ever and would also have given Microsoft a formidable lead in the emerging market of online personal finance transactions.Anne Bingaman, Justice's antitrust chief, said allowing the deal "would likely result in higher prices for consumers who want to buy personal finance software and would cause those buyers to miss out on the huge benefits from innovation." Newly-minted conventional wisdom, notesTIME technology editor Philip Elmer-DeWitt, who says Bingaman cracked down because of widespread criticism that shelet Microsoft off too lightlyin a separate antitrust settlement. If a judge upholds Justice's new requests, he adds, "it's over. Or they spend years in court."