Gates: Tactics didn't hurt competition

WASHINGTON - Even though courts have ruled that it illegally monopolized the computer software business, Microsoft Corp.&#39;s chairman, Bill Gates, says he doesn&#39;t believe his company&#39;s tactics significantly hurt competitors. <br> <br> Gates, ending three days of testimony before a federal judge, warned that penalties sought by nine states still pursuing the antitrust case might force Microsoft to pull its ubiquitous Windows operating system off the market. He said the restrictions would hurt the personal computer market and stop Microsoft innovations. <br> <br> A federal trial court and an appeals court have found, among other things, that Microsoft acted illegally to keep users from removing its Internet Explorer Web browser from Windows, which contributed significantly to market losses by the company&#39;s chief rival browser, Netscape Navigator.<br> <br> Microsoft broke the law and operated as an illegal monopoly, they ruled. <br> <br> ``I accept whatever the Court of Appeals found in their opinion,&#39;&#39; Gates said in closing his testimony, but ``I don&#39;t think it was at all a significant factor.&#39;&#39; <br> <br> Gates and his company are trying convince a judge that Microsoft does not deserve additional antitrust penalties beyond those agreed to in a settlement with the federal government and nine states. Nine other states are asking for the tougher penalties. <br> <br> Testimony was to continue Thursday, with Gates&#39; lieutenants on the stand.<br> <br> Microsoft vice president Chris Jones was prepared to tell U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly how the states&#39; proposed penalties would affect the design of Windows. Jones also was to discuss the earlier settlement. <br> <br> Gates made a conscious decision in his testimony, he and his lawyers said, not to mention the settlement. That ensured that lawyers for the states would not be able to question him about it, which might have fueled their arguments that the federal deal is toothless and will not help consumers. <br> <br> Microsoft was to call executives from the telephone company Qwest Communications and business technology firm Unisys Corp. Those executives planned to rebut allegations made by Microsoft critics Sun Microsystems and SBC Communications. <br> <br> The states want to let computer manufacturers remove Internet Explorer and other features of Windows and substitute competing software. That, the states say, would reduce Microsoft&#39;s advantage, give consumers more choice and let software developers make many different kinds of programs.<br> <br> States that rejected the government&#39;s settlement with Microsoft last fall were Iowa, Utah, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Kansas, Florida, Minnesota and West Virginia. <br> <br> In his final day of testimony, Gates played down his biggest court loss as he refused to acknowledge the business importance of deals found to be illegal that now place the company in legal peril. <br> <br> Gates said shortly before leaving the witness stand that the states&#39; ``breadth of restrictions&#39;&#39; would hurt the personal computer market and take away Microsoft&#39;s innovations. <br> <br> ``Microsoft (research and development) would at best go into a 10-year period of hibernation,&#39;&#39; Gates said.