Supreme Court Rejects Microsoft-Best Buy Appeal

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Microsoft and Best Buy, which clears the way for a class-action fraud lawsuit against the two companies to go forward.

The suit stems from accusations from customers that a subsidiary of Best Buy had signed up customers for a trial of MSN Internet Service without their consent. The two companies had previously signed a $200 million marketing agreement surrounding MSN.

Plaintiffs are using racketeering laws to go after Microsoft and Best Buy, and are attempting to argue that the deal between the two companies constituted an enterprise. The Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act has been used to sue companies before, but this would be the first time the Supreme Court has ruled on a case using that argument.

Best Buy and Microsoft argued that if the Supreme Court allowed the lower court ruling to stand, it could open the doors for all types of lawsuits under RICO, and urged the justices to review it.

It also said there were disagreements among the various courts on RICO's reach, thus a high court ruling would help to sort that out. However, the Supreme Court refused to overturn the lower court ruling, sending it back to the appeals court for further litigation.

Chief Justice John Roberts recused himself from the case, however gave no reason. In the past, however, he has reported stock holdings in either company.

Neither MIcrosoft nor Best Buy had any immediate comment on the court's ruling as of press time.