Obama's second nominee Sri Srinivasan, who had bipartisan credentials after arguingappeals for both the George W. Bush and Obama administrations won confirmation May 23.
Albany attorney Tom West is arguing the appeals on behalf of industry and has said he's confident the Appellate Division, or if necessary the highest court, the Court of Appeals, will agree that local bans violate a 1981 state law that says the state's authority to regulate the oil and gas industry supersedes the authority of localities.
That forced Jackson to directly challenge the ruling of a superior court in order to sustain his conclusion that Microsoft had violated antitrust laws, which he did in forceful terms, arguing that the appeals court's ruling "ignores reality" and gives the corporation a free hand to engage in the illegal tactic of "tying" different products together.