For those of you who were always complaining that "Redmond Justice" was too slow-moving, apparently the writers got the message. It's true that the action has dragged at times throughout the case's two years on the air, but the latest installment of Microsoft's epic antitrust battle was a whirlwind of activity crammed into a single episode that made our heads spin. And it's not even Sweeps Month.

For those who missed it (like, if you blinked), here's the skinny. As you saw in previous episodes, Judge Jackson ruled that Microsoft should be split in two for having violated antitrust laws on numerous occasions. While the ruling gave the company four months to come up with a plan for the breakup, certain "conduct remedies" were to commence in ninety days. Microsoft immediately filed a request for a stay of the ruling, hoping to avoid any changes in its business practices until the Appeals Court heard the case.

Now, this is where the show really poured on the speed. On Tuesday, according to a Newsbytes article, the Judge rejected Microsoft's stay request, saying that he'd "reserve such a decision until Microsoft actually files an appeal." Microsoft had previously insisted that it would not file the appeal until the stay issue had been resolved. See what's going on here? It's no secret that Microsoft wants the appeal to be heard by the Court of Appeals, which has twice sided with it on antitrust matters in the past. The government, on the other hand, wants Judge Jackson to invoke a little-used provision of the Sherman Antitrust Act and kick the appeal upstairs directly to the Supreme Court-- and Jackson seems on board with that plan. But the government couldn't file a motion to expedite the appeal until Microsoft actually filed for one-- hence, no Microsoft appeal was filed. But with Jackson refusing to resolve the stay request until an appeal is on the books, the Redmond company's stall tactics were backfiring; sure, the government couldn't try to involve the Supreme Court, but without a stay, Microsoft's time was running out on the ninety days before the conduct remedies kicked in.

And then suddenly, from out of nowhere, BAM! Microsoft filed for an appeal before the government knew what hit it. According to a CNET article, the Court of Appeals was ready with an answer-- a resounding "we'll take it." And what's more, the Appeals Court is adopting a fast-track schedule of its own; usually the case would first be reviewed by a three-judge panel before moving on to being heard by a full panel of judges. In the case of "Redmond Justice," however, the three-judge step is being skipped completely-- a move legal experts are calling "unprecedented."

That's a major score for Microsoft; the government scrambled to file its motion for the Supreme Court end-run, but now that the Appeals Court has agreed to hear the case (and in its own expedited fashion), the chances of the highest court in the land wanting to butt in right now are slim to none. The very fact that the Appeals Court worked so quickly to put the kibosh the whole "straight to the Supreme Court" plan indicates that Microsoft is facing a much more sympathetic set of judges this time around. Could this be where the tables get turned? Stay tuned.