Lot's of book value out there these days, I have been buying LSI, which is down around 50% in a matter of what seems like weeks. Seems strange that CPQ would be buying back what DEC sold before the merger, but who knows. CS is trading as if it has been written off as a company. Could be a good deal for CPQ, but as you say, another negative for the shareholders short term. I have not checked CS's market cap, though I'm guessing it's small enough where the impact would be much more muted than DEC. On another note, it appears that CPQ's John Rose will testify FOR Microsoft in the upcoming trial...
John
Microsoft, DOJ name
witnesses
By Sandeep Junnarkar
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
September 8, 1998, 8:15 a.m. PT
update The Justice Department presented a
12-person witness list in its antitrust suit against
Microsoft, marking a broadening of its case against
the software giant.
The government revealed on Friday that the witness
list includes IBM's vice president of Personal
Software Products John Soyring; America Online's
senior vice president David Colburn; and Intel's
vice president Steve McGeady.
The witness list also
includes senior
executives from personal
finance software maker
Intuit, Netscape
Communications, and
Boeing.
These witnesses are expected to support the case
against Microsoft by offering evidence of the
software company's alleged anticompetitive
business practices.
Microsoft also presented its list of 12 witnesses,
including Compaq Computer's senior vice president
John Rose who is expected to testify that
Compaq's contracts with Microsoft did not hinder
Compaq's business practices.
"Our witnesses will refute the government's case
and prove that our inclusion of Internet technologies
in Windows was designed to provide new tools
and innovations for consumers and software
developers," William H. Neukom, Microsoft senior
vice president for law and corporate affairs, said in
a statement.
Both parties also plan to call upon academics and
technical experts to bolster their cases.
However, neither side planned to call Microsoft
chairman Bill Gates to the witness stand. Microsoft,
however, plans to call eight of its executives as
witnesses.
"These are our senior executives who were directly
involved in each of the issues the government has
raised," Neukom said. "Through their testimony, we
will show that the government's allegations are
groundless, and that Microsoft's actions were
completely appropriate and good for consumers."
The trial is set for September 23.
Last week, federal prosecutors released new
evidence concerning Microsoft's dealings with its
competitors and partners that is designed to bolster
the government's case and show why the court
should deny the company's request to dismiss the
antitrust suit.
The brief also accused chief executive Bill Gates
and other Microsoft executives of being
uncooperative in pretrial testimony, showing "an
astonishing lack of recall" when answering
questions.
According to the brief, Microsoft thwarted
competition in the arena for Internet software by
pressing Intel, Apple Computer, RealNetworks,
and Intuit not to market certain products that
conflicted with the software giant's strategic
objectives.
The two sides' witness lists are as follows:
Justice Department Witness List
James Barksdale, Netscape Communications
David Colburn, America Online
David J. Farber, Professor of
Telecommunication Systems, University of
Pennsylvania
Edward W. Felten, Assistant Professor of
Computer Science, Princeton University
Franklin M. Fisher, Professor of Economics,
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
William Harris, Intuit
Steven McGeady, Intel
David S. Sibley, Professor of Economics,
University of Texas
John Soyring, IBM
Scott Vesey, Boeing
Frederick Warren Bolton, Principal,
Microeconomic Consulting Research & Associates
Glenn Weadock, President, Independent
Software
Microsoft Witness List
Richard Schmalensec, Professor of Economics
and Management, MIT
Michael Dertouzos, Professor of Computer
Science and Electrical Engineering, MIT
Paul Maritz, Group Vice President, Platforms
and Applications, Microsoft
James Allchin, Senior Vice President, Personal
and Business Systems, Microsoft
Joachim Kempin, Senior Vice President, OEM
Sales
Brad Chase, Vice President, Developer
Relations & Windows Marketing
Cameron Myhrvold, Vice President, Internet
Customer Unit, Strategic Relations, Microsoft
Yusuf Mehdi, Director, Windows Marketing,
Microsoft
William Poole, Senior Director, Business
Development, Microsoft
Daniel Rosen, General Manager, New
Technology, Microsoft
John Rose, Compaq Computer
Michael Devlin, Rational Software
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