ZDNet UK / News and Analysis / Business of IT / IT Strategy

Ballmer leads new Microsoft witness list

By Joe Wilcox, CNet, 30 April, 2002 13:45

Daily Newsletters

Sign up to ZDNet UK's daily newsletter.

Topics

Microsoft, Court, Testimony, antitrust trial, witnesses

NEWS
Microsoft chopped eight people off its witness list on Monday, potentially speeding the close of testimony in its remedy proceeding. But headliners Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive, and Jim Allchin, the senior executive over Windows, are still scheduled to testify. They could take the witness stand as early as next week. At least one of the witnesses, Richard Fade, had been scheduled to testify this week and in fact could have taken the stand as early as Tuesday. Fade is the liaison between Microsoft and PC makers, who were directly affected by the company's antitrust violations. Brian Valentine, senior vice president over the Windows division, also had been viewed as a potentially important witness. In addition, two other Microsoft witnesses have been removed from the list of 29 witnesses: Jeff Raikes, vice president, business productivity services, and Microsoft research managing director Roger Needham. Four third-party witnesses also were removed from the witness list: Avanade chief excutive Mitchell Hill; Philip Schoonover, an executive vice president with Best Buy; Charter Communications chief technology officer Steven Silva; and John Johnston, a partner with August Capital. "After reviewing the progress made so far in our case as well as assessing the states' witnesses and what we believe are shortcomings in the states' case, Microsoft has decided that we will not call several individuals who were originally designated to be witnesses in the remedy proceedings," said Microsoft spokesman Jim Desler. Microsoft chairman Bill Gates testified for about three days last week, largely rehabilitating his appearance during the main trial via videotaped deposition. Gates did not testify in court in person during the trial's main phase. Bob Lande, an antitrust professor with the University of Baltimore Law School, said the change in the witness list isn't surprising, especially considering the number of people tentatively scheduled to testify. "It could be (that) as the case progressed, they decided what it was they needed," Lande said, and "they reached a point where they decided to drop" witnesses. That leaves only nine more witnesses to testify, including Robert Short, a Microsoft corporate vice president responsible for the Windows OS kernel. Short submitted written testimony, followed by the states' cross-examination on Monday afternoon. Gregg Sutherland, Qwest Communications International's senior vice president of corporate strategy, testified on Microsoft's behalf earlier in the day. Short's cross-examination is expected to conclude on Tuesday, followed by the submission of portions of the deposition of Tom Green, California assistant attorney general. California is one of the nine states, along with the District of Columbia, seeking tougher sanctions against Microsoft. The others are Connecticut, Florida, Iowa, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Utah and West Virginia. Stuart Madnick, professor of engineering systems at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Will Poole, vice president of Microsoft's Windows Media Division; and Linda Averett, a product unit manager over the Windows Digital Media Platform, also could testify this week. Besides Ballmer and Allchin, the remaining witnesses include: John Bennett, a computer science professor at the University of Colorado; Gayle Brock, Microsoft OEM account manager; and Kenneth Elzinga, a professor of economics at the University of Virginia. Microsoft's shortening of its witness list could greatly accelerate this portion of the nearly four-year-old antitrust case. The nine litigating states and District of Columbia presented 15 of 16 witnesses to support the proposed remedy against the software giant. The states are seeking stiffer sanctions than those agreed to in a settlement between the Justice Department, nine other states and Microsoft. The November settlement largely puts restrictions only on Microsoft's business practices. But the litigating states want restrictions affecting Microsoft software code. They want Microsoft to distribute a second version of Windows with so-called middleware, such as Web browsing and media playback software removed; license through auction its Office software for use on competing operating systems; and give away the source code, or blueprint, to the Internet Explorer Web browser, among other remedies. In June 2001, a seven-panel Court of Appeals upheld about a dozen separate antitrust violations against Microsoft. The court concluded Microsoft used illegal and anticompetitive means to maintain a monopoly in Intel-based operating systems. Throughout the remedy proceeding, Microsoft has attempted to narrow the scope of the case to the specific violations upheld by the Court of Appeals. Besides assessing what remedy to impose based on the current proceeding, US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly must separately decide what to do about the Justice Department settlement. She can either approve or reject the proposed deal, which, according to the Tunney Act, she must deem is in the public interest in order to accept it.
Think it's all over? The antitrust case against Microsoft can still go back the to Court of Appeals, and then there's the European Commission's investigation... See ZDNet UK's DoJ/Microsoft News Section for the latest headlines. Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Go to the Microsoft forum. Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom.

Related stories

Trial: Now it's Microsoft's turn

Expert: Windows can be broken into parts

Our next witness: Bill Gates

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Post your comment

In order to post a comment you need to be registered and logged in.

You can also log in with Facebook. Log in or create your ZDNet UK account below

  • Login

Will not be displayed with your comment

By signing up for this service, you indicate that you agree to our Terms and Conditions and have read and understood our Privacy Policy. Questions about membership? Find the answers in the Community FAQ

Get ZDNet UK's daily newsletter

Enter your email address to sign up

ZDNet UK Live

GrueMaster

Nice review and very informative. One thing I'd like to add (in reply to whs001's 1st question), the main reason to have the same interface from...

1 hour ago by GrueMaster on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Frederick Wrigley

I'be been using Mint 12 since the RC came out, and I am far more happy with the Cinnamon, the Mate, and, yes (with extensions), theGnome 3...

2 hours ago by Frederick Wrigley via Facebook on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
bdantas

Excellent article. One small correction, though--although a fresh installation of Linux Mint 12 will, indeed, provide the user with a version of...

3 hours ago by bdantas on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

3 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Alan Ralph

In related news, the ISPs club together to get the members of the Home Affairs Select Committee (ya goofed on that part, ZDNet UK) copies of "The...

3 hours ago by Alan Ralph via Facebook on MPs urge ISPs to take down terrorist material
Moley

For Gnome 2 die-hards, it is possible to add icons to the bottom panel (or top top panel, if you prefer) which provide the exact Gnome 2...

4 hours ago by Moley on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
ramwellian

Your comments would seem pretty naive and immature. Your 'solution' appears to be, "gee, let's all just give in to the hackers and give them...

4 hours ago by ramwellian on Cloud computing security: no more oxymoron?
BugStalker

"Interesting thought ... If you installed Win7 as a dual boot on a machine that previously only had Linux, and it wrecked your Linux installation,...

4 hours ago by BugStalker on Windows 7 Declares War on GRUB
whs001

This is an excellent summary of Ubuntu and Mint and the interface differences between them. Most such articles take a very partisan position for...

4 hours ago by whs001 on A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint
Moley

@ewallace. Not so clear. Anyone can obtain the text, for example from here http://www.ustr.gov/webfm_send/2379. I support ACTA so long as it and...

5 hours ago by Moley on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions
45283

I think WinRT is fantastic. I just wish it was an option for people that didn't want to go through Microsoft's App Store with its attendant...

8 hours ago by 45283 on Why Windows 8 needs architectural hygiene for WOA
Burn-IT

Nine people? £30m? Who's back pocket is that lot going in? And IF they say it is for new buildings, what about all the ones the government has...

9 hours ago by Burn-IT on Police set to launch three £30m e-crime hubs
ewallace

Just to be clear, nobody knows what is in the text of ACTA, here is a photograph of the text of ACTA http://twitpic.com/8h9iju as submitted to the...

9 hours ago by ewallace on ACTA: Facts, misconceptions and questions
fgvrg56

Unfortunately main issue is that ASUS is refusing to accept that they make some mistake on this version of asus Transformer prime. 1 - GPS sensor...

10 hours ago by fgvrg56 on Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Wi-Fi & GPS problems?
Ben Woods

@Marcus A fair question. Just talked with Archos which said it was working on an announcement for next week....

11 hours ago by Ben Woods on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule
Marcus Karlsson

Any update on this, considering the claimed "first week of February"?

12 hours ago by Marcus Karlsson via Facebook on Archos confirms G9 Ice Cream Sandwich update schedule
apexwm

Bill Goodrich : Just as al_langevin pointed out, with Windows Server 2008 there is no Services for Macintosh anymore. It's gone, not available....

21 hours ago by apexwm on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility
txtrainguy

Replying to an old topic that I'm currently facing with my CEO (who is on a Mac). Our servers are primarily Windows Servers, office is about...

1 day ago by txtrainguy on Windows Server 2008 drops the ball for Mac compatibility
k0tcs3

Sure, that makes perfect sense. Pay wrong-doers money and thank them for breaching your security and pointing out your flaws, that would surely...

1 day ago by k0tcs3 on US indicts Romanian over NASA climate change hack
Random_Error

I think he's referring specifically to Android apps, as Apple do regulate their App Store, but Google seem to let any old crap onto the Android store!

1 day ago by Random_Error on RIM: BlackBerry will keep 'garbage' apps out of store

Latest in IT Strategy

Heart of England NHS begins massive digitisation plan

Hard-drive woes hit PC shipments in fourth quarter

Featured white papers

How cloud adds strategy to IT outsourcing

SAVVIS

How cloud adds strategy to IT outsourcing

Thanks to cloud computing, IT outsourcing is back, but this time it can help both in cutting costs and helping the business... Read more

Tech breakthroughs to watch in 2012

ZDNet UK

Tech breakthroughs to watch in 2012

From invisibility cloaks to virtual atom smashing, from Cern to Nasa, this ZDNet UK guide presents the discoveries to watch in... Read more

Key trends driving global business resilience and risk

IBM

Key trends driving global business resilience and risk

This IBM research paper looks at how businesses are thinking more about business resilience by improving the ability to adapt to a continuously changing business... Read more

Inside ZDNet UK

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

A tale of two distros: Ubuntu and Linux Mint

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

2012 Predictions: VCE FastPath, VI SAN Probe & Hadoop

BlackBerry Bold 9790

BlackBerry Bold 9790

Case study: How cloud enables growth

Case study: How cloud enables growth

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Ten factors that make Ubuntu 11.10 a hit

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

Toshiba Portégé Z830-10P Review

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault

BT's archive: Pictures from the vault