Flair and thread,
Orrin Hatch is abusing his power again...
Congress asks Microsoft CEO Gates to testify
By David Lawsky
WASHINGTON, Feb 12 (Reuters) - Senate Judiciary Committee
Chairman Orrin Hatch Thursday invited Microsoft Corp. MSFT.O
Chief Executive Bill Gates to testify at a March 3 hearing, but
a company spokesman said Gates had a previous commitment.
Hatch invited Gates and two other top computer executives
to testify to the Judiciary Committee about competition and the
Internet.
"Bill has a previous long-standing commitment but we look
forward to participating in the hearing, either with Bill if we
can change his schedule, or with another very, very senior
Microsoft executive," said Mark Murray, a Microsoft spokesman.
Hatch has been looking carefully at Microsoft, which has
been charged by the Justice Department with violating a 1995
consent decree aimed at increasing competition in the software
industry.
The Utah Republican said in a statement that he was
inviting Gates, Scott McNealy, president and CEO of Sun
Microsystems SUNW.O , and Jim Barksdale, president and CEO of
Netscape Communications NSCP.O.
McNealy and Barksdale have been bitter rivals of Gates. Sun
is in litigation against Gates and the Justice Department has
cited Barksdale's company in its action against Microsoft.
"Mr. Barksdale would welcome the opportunity to appear with
Mr. Gates at this hearing to address these very important
issues that impact the future of computing," said Chris Holton,
a spokeswoman for Netscape. She had no comment on whether
Barksdale would appear in the absence of Gates.
A spokeswoman for Sun was not immediately available for
comment.
Hatch said in his statement that the hearing would "provide
an important step in our consideration of how antitrust policy
could best serve consumers and the long-term health of the
software industry and the Internet generally."
He said the CEOs could testify about the Internet and the
promise of new software for the computer industry.
"I believe it will be very instructive to the committee to
hear first-hand from the industry players who are themselves
driving these developments," Hatch said. "This hearing will
present an opportunity for industry to educate the committee
about competitive dynamics in the marketplace."
REUTERS
Rtr 21:55 02-12-98
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