News.com: Some critics say the 1994 consent decree must not have worked if the later actions by regulators were needed.
Brad Smith: I think it is more accurate to say the 1994 decree achieved its objectives, but its objectives were limited. The purpose of the 1994 decree was to make it easier for developers of competing operating systems to enter into contracts with (computer makers). There was a concern at the time that a (computer maker) would never be interested in another operating system because of contractual terms. It wasn't meant to address everything that affects operating systems...Look at Dell and HP, they offer Linux in a landscape today that was shaped, to some degree, by the 1994 decree.
What stands out to you about that accord?
When we concluded that agreement in 1994, it was the first time that the DOJ and European Union had ever negotiated together to resolve an antitrust issue. In a global economy, I think that is a constructive step. Personally, I felt in 1994 that it would be the first of probably several such coordinated attempts in the decade that followed. I think it is unfortunate that we are looking back 10 years later and that has never been repeated.
Some say Microsoft scored its biggest success by ensuring that while it was limited in conventionally tying sales of one product to another, it remained able to combine the features of products together, so-called technological tying.
In 1994 we were entering the final development phases for what became Windows 95, which was code-named Chicago. There was more euphoria about that than any software release in the history of the industry. It was the integration of two products (DOS and Windows) that had been separate. The irony, and there is one, is that the issue that became so controversial in 1998 was viewed in 1994 as a demonstrably good thing that everyone was excited about.
Did the 1994 consent decree establish a companywide sense of the company's unique obligations as far as antitrust matters?
It certainly contributed to that. The company (had already) started to focus in a serious manner on antitrust issues. There was an FTC investigation that started in 1990. People at Microsoft today have a really enormous sensitivity to operate under the law and more broadly in accordance with their responsibilities as an industry leader. The 1994 consent decree contributed in one way to that evolution. I'd say later events contributed even more.
