REDMOND. Washington.

May 4: Microsoft Corp may ask ' a US Judge to disregard a plan to ’ break up the company, arguing , that the government Improperly based its proposal on evidence that wasn’t presented at trial, according to people close

■ to the antitrust case, says AP.

I Microsoft objects to the ; statements of five outside ex-• perts In the plan submitted to . US District Judge Thomas Pen-field Jackson of Washington, I DC, by the Justice Department and 17 states, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

The software company contends those experts addressed issues that were not brought up In the nearly year-long trial.

On April 3. Jackson ruled that Microsoft violated state

and federal antitrust laws used its monopoly power hi personal computer operating systems to crush rivals. The US government then asked the Judge to break Microsoft into two rival companies.

Microsoft must respond by May 10, and the sources said the filing is still being drafted. The company has already said it will then ask for substantial delays in the proceedings before hearings are held.

The company believes the government tried to introduce new evidence in its filing, such as the claim that Microsoft attempted to sabotage Palm Computing's popular organisers by making changes to the way they interact with the Windows operating system, the sources told The Associated Press.