The curtain is coming down on a feeble case presented by the government. In its rush to judgment, the government has failed to stop and learn about the benefits to customers, consumers of the innovation and the low prices that Microsoft has championed and made reality in the PC software marketplace today.

This preliminary injunction threatens every American technology company's right to innovate and define what goes into its products. The ruling puts the government into the middle of complex product design issues in an industry that, for more than 20 years, has experienced incredible growth, innovation and competition - without government intervention.

The government will be marshaling its efforts in the coming weeks to bolster its case against Lay, but it will be a tough task.

Before we sat down to negotiate this degree, the government had subpoenaed documents that showed Microsoft had begun including integrated Internet technology into Windows 95 as early as the fall of 1993.

We should not pass judgment until the case is properly heard.

A feeble dart short of its mark.