A Chat with Justice's Charles James

The new antitrust chief explains why his attitude toward Microsoft has been anything but the laissez-faire approach many observers expected

Provide news feedback or report an error

Confidential tip?

Send a tip to our reporters

Site feedback:

Take our Survey

August 3, 2001 at 4:00 AM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

When President Bush tapped Charles A. James to take over the antitrust suit the Clinton Administration brought against Microsoft, the company's defenders thought they had reason to cheer. James, the new head of the Justice Dept.'s antitrust division, calls himself a "bedrock" conservative and a skeptic of regulation.

So far, however, he has been anything but friendly to the software giant. He has amassed a team of tough prosecutors to continue with the case and pressed the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals to expedite the process of meting out Microsoft's punishment. A devotee of rap music, bodybuilding, and Porsches, James brings to the job more flair than many of his predecessors. On July 31, when the 47-year-old lawyer met with BusinessWeek legal affairs correspondent Dan Carney, it was his first on-the-record interview since taking office. (For more on James, see BW Online, 8/03/01, "Sorry, Bill. Charles James Is No Softie ".)