FTC v. Microsoft: all the news from the big Xbox courtroom battle

Microsoft responds to the FTC’s emergency motion.

The FTC has filed an appeal over its loss of FTC v. Microsoft with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. It also wants an emergency injunction to temporarily block Microsoft from closing its Activision Blizzard deal until there’s a ruling on the appeal.

Microsoft has now responded to the FTC’s motion, arguing that “the FTC’s claimed emergency is entirely of its own creation,” because the FTC didn’t seek an injunction through federal court until six weeks before the deal close.

Microsoft also claims the FTC could have filed its request for emergency relief earlier, as Judge Corley sent a copy of the ruling to both the FTC and Microsoft on Monday July 10th.

“The Court should not mistake the FTC’s litigation gamesmanship for an emergency meriting this Court’s deviation from the ordinary appellate process,” says Microsoft in its filing.

If the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals doesn’t grant this emergency injunction then Microsoft is free to close its Activision Blizzard deal after 11:59PM PT tonight, once the temporary restraining order, put in place by Judge Corley, expires.

Finally, Microsoft says the FTC has committed “the cardinal sin of antitrust: mistaking competitive disadvantage for a particular competitor (Sony) with harm to competition and consumers.”

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