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Technology Stocks : Novell (NOVL) dirt cheap, good buy? -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Elmo Gregory who wrote (23366)	8/4/1998 1:17:00 AM
From: DJBEINO	Respond to of 42771

But a person familiar with the talks between Microsoft and Novell said the dispute was resolved last week. U.S. Charges Microsoft Seeks Limits On Gate's Pretrial Testimony By John R. Wilke, Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal WASHINGTON -- In a dispute that could delay Microsoft Corp.'s antitrust trial this fall, the government charged that the software giant is demanding unreasonable limits on pretrial testimony by its chairman, Bill Gates, and on key documents and evidence. Microsoft fired back that the Justice Department is being unreasonable, asking for secret "source code" blueprints to the company's software without adequate safeguards and seeking depositions from 17 executives just weeks from the Sept. 8 trial date. "They have had 18 months to get ready for this trial, and we've had four," a spokesman said. In a motion filed in U.S. District Court here on Friday night, the government demanded access to the source code for Windows 95 and Windows 98, and complained that Microsoft is seeking to limit testimony by Microsoft executives and its chairman. "Mr. Gates has personal knowledge about every aspect of this matter," the government's motion said. "Countless documents reveal Mr. Gates's personal involvement in most of Microsoft's critical corporate decisions, many of which are at the heart of this case," the filing said. U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson called both sides late last week and asked for a conference in his chambers on Aug. 11, one person close to the case said. This latest spat may not sit well with the judge, who has already sternly warned both sides that he will have little patience for such disputes and is determined to keep the trial on schedule. Microsoft objected to the swift trial date when it was set by the court two months ago, and would welcome any delay; its attorneys insist they weren't given enough time to prepare for one of the biggest antitrust cases this century. But the government wants the trial to start on time, and its motion Friday appears aimed at forcing Microsoft to stay on track. The motion discloses that Microsoft is insisting on limiting testimony from Mr. Gates to a single eight-hour day, on Aug. 12. The government wants Mr. Gates to be available for a second day if necessary and notes that a recent deposition by Microsoft of a key Netscape Communications Corp. executive vice president, co-founder Marc Andreessen, took more than 12 hours. In the case, the Justice Department and 20 states charge that Microsoft engaged in a pattern of predatory conduct to maintain a monopoly in operating-system software and to illegally extend that monopoly into the Internet software market, where Netscape currently has the lead. Microsoft has called its actions "completely legal and good for consumers" and defended its freedom to add features into Windows. In the Windows source-code dispute, the government says the company has asked for restrictions that go well beyond a court-enforced secrecy order already agreed to by both sides. The government says Microsoft now wants it to enter into a commercial license with terms "so oppressive that entering into such an agreement would literally eliminate plaintiff's ability to utilize any competent technical expert." Microsoft wants anyone who sees the code to agree not to work on any project related to operating systems for 12 months, or work in any way with a list of the largest software companies for 18 months. The company says the protections are warranted given the "extremely confidential, highly sensitive trade secrets" revealed in the code. These demands were rejected by another federal court last week, in a pretrial skirmish in a private antitrust suit against Microsoft filed in Salt Lake City. That case, however, involved older source code that is a small part of Windows 95, a spokesman said. The Microsoft spokesman said that the government "waited two months to notify us of who they wanted to depose, so now only a month before trial they are asking for 17 depositions of senior Microsoft executives. We think that's unreasonable and have offered nine executives," including Mr. Gates and Microsoft President Steve Ballmer. Another dispute over evidence surfaced two weeks ago, when Microsoft filed suit in federal court in Salt Lake City seeking to compel Novell Inc. to provide documents related to the case. The move was seen by some as a tactical effort by Microsoft to ask for a delay. But a person familiar with the talks between Microsoft and Novell said the dispute was resolved last week.