Compaq Backs Microsoft as Benign Power at Trial
After months of being publicly bashed by technology industry rivals and allies alike, Microsoft Corp. finally had some kind words tossed its way Tuesday.
Painting Microsoft as a benign industry power, an official of Compaq Computer Corp. disputed government claims that Microsoft pressured Compaq not to distribute software offered by a rival. In 17 pages of written testimony released Tuesday, Compaq Senior Vice President John T. Rose contests the portrayal of his company and other PC makers as so cowed by Microsoft that they were unwilling to offer software by Microsoft rivals such as Internet software developer Netscape Communications Corp.
“As in any healthy relationship, Compaq’s partnership with Microsoft has involved significant give-and-take over the years,” Rose wrote. “Our two companies, however, have generally agreed on solutions that have benefited consumers and accommodated both our interests and needs and the computer industry as a whole.”
In the unusual procedure established by presiding U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, witnesses in the landmark antitrust trial submit their direct testimony in written form and then are cross-examined on the witness stand.
Compaq is the world’s largest maker of personal computers and is among Microsoft’s closest allies. But while other allies such as Intel Corp. and Dell Computer Corp. have sometimes wavered in their public support of Microsoft during the trial, Rose staunchly defended the software giant.
In particular, he disputed claims by the government and Netscape Chairman Jim Barksdale that Compaq removed the Windows icons for Microsoft’s Web browser and MSN online network on Compaq computers because the company wanted to offer consumers the Netscape browser instead. Rose explained that Compaq removed the icons because of a separate agreement Compaq had with America Online Inc. to feature AOL on the main Windows computer screen.
Compaq ultimately agreed to restore the Microsoft icons, and Microsoft withdrew its threat to terminate its license agreement with Compaq. Rose says Compaq now has great flexibility to modify its PCs and that Microsoft does not prevent Compaq from selling machines with Internet software from rivals, although he said Compaq hasn’t regularly sold personal computers using any operating system other than Windows since 1993.
“If there were sufficient customer demand for a different operating system for personal computers, Compaq would consider licensing that operating system,” Rose said.
Meanwhile, in live trial testimony Tuesday, lead government lawyer David Boies used a government videotape to undermine Microsoft’s claim that downloading the Netscape Web browser is fast and easy.
In the government videotape, downloading Netscape took 30 to 60 minutes on three different tries, much longer than Microsoft had suggested in its own videotape, which used a high-speed data line rather than a more typical telephone dial-up connection for downloading.
Microsoft Vice President Brad Chase acknowledged that Microsoft’s video of the downloading process skipped over several steps users had to follow.
The demonstration marked the third time the government had successfully challenged a Microsoft videotape demonstration. In two earlier incidents, a Microsoft executive was forced to concede inaccuracies in a company video played in court, leading Judge Jackson to remark that he was troubled by the reliability of the “entire” demonstration.
