By Jonathan Collins in Washington DC
The Department of Justice kicked off week five of its antitrust case against Microsoft Corp by returning to Bill Gates’ videotaped testimony. As the DoJ pressed Gates on Microsoft’s determination to push Internet Explorer in early 1996, his testimony was again un-cooperative and evasive, and his answers to government lawyer David Boies occasionally slipped into farce. At one point even District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson could be seen shaking his head and laughing. On the tape, Boies asked Gates about a 23-line email he sent to other Microsoft executives on January 5, 1996, which began: Winning internet browser share is a very, very, important goal for us.” Boies repeatedly tried to ascertain from Gates which companies Microsoft was competing against in the Internet browser market. It doesn’t appear I’m talking about any other companies in that sentence,” said Gates. Boies said that only if a company has a monopoly would the winning of market share not constitute taking business away from a competitor. After tryng to clarify, at Gates insistence, which companies were competing in the internet browser space in January 1996, Boies finally approached the issue directly. Does the prior discussion that we’ve just had refresh your recollection that you would have been primarily…gaining market share versus Netscape? he asked, to which Gates replied: You keep reading Netscape into that sentence and I don’t see how you can do that. The edited video tape testimony, recorded in August, then went on to cover Microsoft’s drive to partner with America Online Inc over the development of a new browser for AOL’s online service. An email from Microsoft vice president Paul Maritz, dated January 16 1996, read: We need to look carefully at any significant opportunity to gain share versus Netscape and think carefully before AOL goes off and partners with Netscape. The hour-long video presentation ended with Gates interpreting the phrase we need to continue our [browser] jihad next year (included in an internal Microsoft memo presented as evidence by the government) as continue our vigorous efforts to make a superior product and market that product. According to a Microsoft spokesperson, Gates’ continued questioning of many common expressions during the interview was in part a result of his coaching for the testimony, and in part his usual character.
