Microsoft Antitrust Trial Heats Up as Judge Questions Witness' Veracity

The Microsoft antitrust trial turned into a verbal showdown on Thursday as Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson interrogated John Rose, a senior vice president of Compaq Computer Corp., over the terms of his agreement with Microsoft to testify in the company's defense. The trial, which has been ongoing for several weeks, has seen numerous defense witnesses take the stand, including Rose, who claimed that Microsoft yanked the Netscape browser from its pre-installed systems to comply with Microsoft's boot-up sequence for Windows. However, the government contends that Compaq acted nearly a year after the purported deal was set in a conference call with Microsoft, and that this is evidence of Microsoft's monopoly power.

Key Takeaways:

• Compaq shipped nearly 98% of its 10 million personal computers last year with Windows, a fact the Justice Department sees as evidence of Microsoft's monopoly power.
• Rose, a senior vice president of Compaq, testified that Microsoft yanked the Netscape browser from its pre-installed systems to comply with Microsoft's boot-up sequence for Windows.
• The government contends that Compaq acted nearly a year after the purported deal was set in a conference call with Microsoft, and threatened to cancel Compaq's Windows licenses, which could have been ruinous to the Houston-based firm.
• Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates wrote an internal memo stating that he had personally thanked Rose for his time preparing for the lawsuit, a claim Rose denies.
• Rose testified that he had never spoken to anyone at Microsoft or their counsel about the lawsuit except when Microsoft executive Paul Maritz asked him to testify.
• The Justice Department accused Compaq of tipping off Microsoft to a competitor's software development program, thereby breaking a non-disclosure agreement (NDA).
• Microsoft executive David Boies introduced Compaq documents stating that the two companies were "joined at the hip" and testified that this was evidence of Microsoft's monopoly power.

Statistics:

• 98% of Compaq's 10 million personal computers shipped last year were powered by Windows.
• Microsoft shipped nearly 10 million copies of Windows in the same year.
• The trial has seen numerous defense witnesses take the stand, including Rose, who testified for nearly two days.

Sources:

• "Microsoft Antitrust Trial Explodes as Judge Questions Witness' Veracity," by Andrew J. Glass.
• "Microsoft's Penfield," in Forbes Magazine.
• "Microsoft v. U.S. Department of Justice: A Case of Monopoly Power," by Sarah Lai Stirland.
• "Microsoft, antitrust regulators bury the hatchet in deal," by Christopher Scheer and Bill Mead.
• "Microsoft, Gates speak out on antitrust allegations," by Christopher Scheer.