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To: damniseedemons who wrote (21126)	10/26/1998 11:26:00 PM
From: Gerald R. Lampton	Respond to of 24154

Hi Sal. The judge's procedures -- having written direct testimony and doing cross examination live are somewhat unusual. If Neukom did not agree to them in the beginning, the judge's trial procedures actually might be something Microsoft could get some mileage out of later on appeal. But, if I were to guess, I would say there is probably some sort of deal behind the scenes, perhaps along the lines of: "We'll agree to your trial-shortening procedures if you promise not to subpoena Bill Gates." This is speculation of course; I have no idea what deals DOJ and Microsoft have made to shorten the trial. But rumor has it that Gates is a terrible witness, one opposing counsel would certainly want to have on the stand if at all possible. Surely DOJ knows this, which leads me to believe they bargained away their right to call him. As for why DOJ and the judge wanted to "rush" the trial, it's simple. They are deathly afraid this might turn into the next IBM trial and will do anything they can to avoid that. BTW, have you read that gossipy new book out called "The Microsoft Files"? It is interesting, and, if true, it raises some serious allegations, like Microsoft allegedly putting false error messages in Windows versions, hiding API's, withholding evidence from DOJ, etc., etc. However, it reads more like a gossip column than serious journalism. I mean, I know it makes him look sleazy and all, but do we really need to know that Neukom (successfully) hit on one of Bill Gates' girl friends? Does it really matter what went on at the Viking Party? It looks to me like the author needed to spice up the dry technical material, so every 20 pages or so she threw in some gratuitous sex to keep the rest of us interested.