Here's another article:
Federal Filings Newswires
Copyright (c) 1999, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Monday, February 1, 1999
DOJ Attacks Accuracy of MSFT Video Demo -4-
WASHINGTON (FFBN) -- The Justice Department attacked the
accuracy of the videotaped demonstration Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) had
presented to the court earlier in the day regarding browser integration.
Specifically, lead DOJ Counsel David Boies noted that an error
message supposedly appears in Microsoft's Money 98 program after a
prototype browser removal program is run. The prototype was created by
Dr. Edward Felten, a Princeton University professor and DOJ expert
witness.
On cross examination, Microsoft's James Allchin said the error
message pops up the first time someone tries to access Money 98, but on
a second attempt there is no error message because the Money program
figures out how to get around the Felten block. Boies contends that if
Netscape Communications Corp.'s (NSCP) Navigator has been added to the
computer and the Felten program has been run then there is no error
message at all.
The videotape demonstration asserted that the Money 98 program
was one of the items Felten's code broke in Windows 98 and that even
adding Navigator did not fix the problem. Allchin said he was not aware
of Boies' contention and that he would test it himself and report back
to the court tomorrow.
In a second example of a misstatement in the video, Boies
pointed out that in the Caldera Technologies Corp. operating system
there are ways other than through the browser to view the hard disk
information. Microsoft's video had indicated that there was no other
way to graphically access the hard disk in the Caldera open Linux
operating system without the built-in browser.
Allchin said from the witness stand that he believed that
statement in the video was in error.
Allchin will resume his testimony tomorrow.
Patti Dennis, Esq.
Legal Editor
========================================================
Boies will be Boies, and he's doing a damn good job.
I never dreamed this was going to be a "last man standing" type of case. When DOJ filed this case, I thought they would just crush Microsoft and that would be the end of it. Instead, they have put on a case with overwhelming evidence in some areas, but also with some major weaknesses.
However, it looks from here, deep in the peanut gallery, based on the articles I've seen so far, that Microsoft's defense is shaping up to be even worse. |
