From Yahoo:
Sunday October 17, 6:32 pm Eastern Time
Bill Gates says surprised at U.S. lawsuit
LONDON, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp (NasdaqNM:MSFT - news) Chairman Bill
Gates said on Sunday he was surprised the U.S. government had filed an anti-trust lawsuit
against him and insisted the company had already proved it was open to competition.
``I'm surprised,' Gates said of the lawsuit, speaking in a BBC television interview. ``No observer could say we haven't shown
how competitive our business is.'
The U.S. Justice Department and 19 states have launched a legal action against Microsoft which they say has used monopoly
power in personal computer operating systems to stifle competition.
The U.S. government says that by offering customers its browser for free in the mid-1990s, Microsoft was trying to undermine
competing browser maker Netscape Communications Corp., recently acquired by America Online INC (NYSE:AOL - news).
Gates said the browser was given away because it paid for itself through advertising revenues.
District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson, presiding over the case, will issue his initial findings in the coming weeks.
Gates, the world's richest man who is said to be worth $100 billion, denied assertions by media magnate Rupert Murdoch that
he wanted to take over the world, saying that label was for Murdoch. ``He's hiding behind me, he's your man,' Gates said.
``Somebody who owns a newspaper can say I'm going to pick the editor who runs headlines that I like. The thing we're
involved in has democratised communications. Anyone who owns a personal computer can publish their ideas.'
Gates was interviewed after what he called a ``neat' meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair.
The Microsoft boss said a thinking computer was still a long way off. ``None of the work being done on software today holds
the potential to create a truly intelligent device.'
Asked about the proliferation of pornography and racism on the Internet, Gates said: ``There's a constant dialogue as to how
the industry can make sure that the right kind of controls are in place so that we get the good of what this can provide without
some of the ills.'
He said browsers could be designed so that a parent could block out pornographic content and keep track of what a child had
been accessing. |
