Lead U.S. Attorney Blasts Microsoft Newspaper Ad

The government’s lead attorney in its antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. criticized the software giant on Monday for a newspaper ad that attempts to undermine the government’s case.

The advertisement, which took up nearly a full page in the Wall Street Journal and four other newspapers Monday, continues a bid by Microsoft to try to capitalize on the proposed purchase of its rival Netscape Communications Corp. by America Online Inc. for $4.2 billion. Microsoft argues that a combination of those two companies would prove that the software industry remains highly competitive.

But lead government lawyer David Boies criticized the ads, saying they focus on competitive technology markets and ignore issues pertinent to the antitrust case against Microsoft. Those issues, he said, center on whether Microsoft’s dominant Windows operating system is being used illegally to snuff out competition in Internet software and other emerging information-technology markets.

“I looked in vain [in the ads] for any mention of the PC operating system, which is what this case is all about,” Boies said.

The ad, which carries the headline “The March of the Marketplace,” says the AOL deal demonstrates that “the marketplace is brimming with innovations that move many times faster than government intervention ever could.” Such developments, Microsoft adds, are “good for consumers--and it’s good for us, because it keeps us on our toes. We think winners ought to be decided by you--the consumers in the marketplace--not by armies of lawyers in the courtroom.”

Meanwhile, in court on Monday, Microsoft trial attorney Michael Lacovara soldiered on, continuing with a fourth day of questioning government witness Frederick Warren-Boulton as the trial entered its seventh week.