AOL exec testifies in Microsoft case

Posted 11:13AM on Thursday 4th April 2002 ( 23 years ago )

WASHINGTON - Parents could buy customized computers for their children - featuring Disney or Lego blocks, perhaps - if a judge were to impose antitrust penalties sought by nine states against Microsoft Corp., an America Online executive says. AOL vice president John Borthwick said companies like Compaq, Hewlett-Packard and Dell have expressed interest in creating highly customized computers, which would run Windows almost invisibly, but their contracts with Microsoft keep them from doing so. ``Such products could increase customer choice, promote innovation, and foster the distribution of non-Microsoft (software) and applications,'' Borthwick testified Wednesday. Borthwick showed pictures of a prototype computer based on Lego building blocks as one new product that could be made if restrictions were to be imposed on Microsoft. Nine states want U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to force Microsoft to create a stripped-down version of its flagship Windows software that could incorporate competitors' features. The states also want Microsoft to divulge blueprints for its Internet Explorer browser. The federal government and nine other states settled their antitrust case against Microsoft last year for lesser penalties. The original judge in the case, Thomas Penfield Jackson, ordered Microsoft broken into two companies after concluding that it illegally stifled competitors. An appeals court reversed the breakup order and appointed Kollar-Kotelly to determine new punishment. Microsoft lawyer Richard Pepperman said the requirement to allow customization could put Microsoft's reputation in jeopardy. ``No matter how crummy the customized version of Windows is, and used Microsoft's trademark, there's nothing Microsoft could do about it.'' Borthwick said he would expect that computer makers would have to meet ``reasonable quality-control standards'' but admitted no such requirement exists in the states' proposal. Borthwick also said Microsoft is using its Passport system to gain unfair advantage over other firms. Passport is a way for users to prove their identities and get information from the Internet. AOL has a similar prototype system called Magic Carpet. But Microsoft's dominance of desktop computer operating systems allows it to pitch Passport with every computer. Microsoft's latest operating system, Windows XP, reminds users to sign up for Passport at every turn. That can discourage people from using other services, Borthwick said. ``Once an XP user has signed up for Passport, that user is automatically authenticated into Microsoft's services making it less likely that he or she will sign up for non-Microsoft products or services,'' Borthwick said. Unlike in the federal settlement, the states want to force Microsoft to let other companies create software that operates with Passport and to give computer manufacturers more freedom to install competing software on new computers. States that rejected the government's settlement with Microsoft and are continuing to pursue the antitrust case are Iowa, Utah, Massachusetts, Connecticut, California, Kansas, Florida, Minnesota and West Virginia, along with the District of Columbia.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/4/196525