Just incredible...literally.
Tuesday February 2 2:41 PM ET
Microsoft Executive Asked If The Truth Matters
By David Lawsky
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A government lawyer, in one of the most dramatic moments of the Microsoft antitrust trial, asked company executive James Allchin Tuesday if he understood that it mattered whether he told the truth under oath.
The issue arose after the government raised questions about the veracity of a Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq:MSFT - news) videotaped demonstration that seemed to show problems with a government-modified version of Windows 98.
On the tape, a Microsoft narrator described a ''performance degradation'' in the government version, and showed a long delay in seeking a Web site.
But government lawyer David Boies examined the tape closely with the witness to show that what was on the screen was not the government-modified version at all. Instead, it was the unmodified Microsoft version that showed the ''performance degradation.''
''This video that you brought in to the court and you vouched for and testified how much you checked ... That's just wrong, isn't it?'' asked Boies.
After some further exchange, Allchin -- a senior vice president and technology specialist at Microsoft -- acknowledged that his assistants may have made a mistake in preparing the tape. But he said that the inaccuracy did not matter.
''I didn't worry'' about some of the inconsistencies on the tape, said Allchin, noting that he had run similar tests himself and found problems. ''The truth is that those problems exist.''
At that, Boies stopped cold. He looked at Allchin and asked: ''Mr. Allchin, you do understand that you came in here and you swore this was accurate?''
Said Allchin: ''To the best of my ability.''
Boies continued: ''You know it does matter whether what you said is right or wrong -- you know that matters, don't you?''
District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson listened to the exchange without giving any indication of what he thought. Jackson, who is the ''finder of fact,'' will have to decide at the trial's end which witnesses he believes and which he does not.
That judgment will help him decide which evidence to rely upon in making his decision on allegations by the Justice Department and 19 states that Microsoft used monopoly power to illegally preserve that power and extend it to other areas of business.
The government charges that Microsoft integrated its Internet Explorer Web browser into Windows 98 in order to compete unfairly against a rival browser made by Netscape Communications Corp. (Nasdaq:NSCP - news) .
At issue Tuesday was a Microsoft demonstration that was supposed to show problems with a government effort to disentangle Microsoft's Web browser from Windows 98. The government tried to show the two programs were not as integrated as Microsoft has claimed.
Allchin testified that the Microsoft tests were performed on ''virgin machines.'' At first Allchin testified that a machine was ''virgin'' if it had nothing but Windows 98 loaded on to it. When it turned out that some of the machines used for Microsoft's tests had Microsoft Office loaded on them, or had changes in the Windows ''registry'' -- which is critical to the control of the machine -- Allchin said those, too, were ''virgin.''
Boies pounced.
''Didn't you just tell me within the last three minutes that when you said 'virgin machine,' you meant a machine that had just Windows 98 on it and nothing else?'' he asked.
''It's not something that makes a difference,'' Allchin said as Boies pressed the point. ''It's irrelevant.''
|
