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Microsoft Loses Appeal of "Vista-Capable" Lawsuit
bfwebster writes "Microsoft has lost its appeal to remove class-action status for the 'Vista Capable' lawsuit that has already resulted in some embarrassing internal e-mails being released publicly. As Computerworld reports, in its appeal to the US Ninth Circuit Court, Microsoft argued (among other things) that 'continuing the lawsuit might mean new disclosures of insider e-mails, which could "jeopardize Microsoft's goodwill" and "disrupt Microsoft's relationships with its business partners."' Given what's been released so far (158-page PDF), not to mention Microsoft's history of rather frank internal e-mails, that's probably putting it mildly. There could be some interesting reading ahead."
You asked what "activist judges" were. They are judges who overlook the letter of the law and make rulings that contradict the law or constitution. Statutory and constitutional law always must be given higher priority than common law. To do otherwise ignores the will of the people, the legislature, and upsets the balance of power. A good example is the D.C. handgun ban that was overturned by the supreme court recently. This law was an obvious abuse of the citizens 2nd amendment rights but activist judges in D.C. overlooked the letter of the law and made "common law" what was overturned by the higher court because it was in conflict with the constitution which fortionatly for us plebeians trumps common law and statutory law. I hope this answers your "what's an activist judge" question, it was never about case law.