The Microsoft antitrust remedy phase entered its fifth week
yesterday, with the last witness for the non-settling states
defending a plan to make Internet Explorer open source, while also
acknowledging that Netscape Communication's decision to open source
Navigator did not work out very well.
Carl Shapiro, a professor of business strategy at the University of
California at Berkeley's Haas School of Business and the state's
economic witness, was forced to defend his support for open
sourcing against the troubled experience of Netscape's 1998
decision to open source its browser.
Facing more cross-examination from Microsoft attorney Michael
Lacovara, Shapiro had to square his support for the open source
remedy for Internet Explorer - sought by the nine non-settling
states that have refused to sign the Bush administration-backed
settlement - against the record.
Shapiro, along with a co-author, praised Netscape's decision in a
1998 op-ed published in
The Wall Street Journal entitled "A
Judo Blow Against Microsoft", as a decision that would lead to more
browser innovation. As an open source product, developers had the
ability to improve the browser's basic operation and functionality.
Lacovara used the experience of the Navigator open source effort,
called Mozilla, to underscore his point that by making IE open
source there was a risk the browser could be fragmented, leading to
incompatibilities with the Windows operating systems. Mozilla is
expected to release Version 1.0 of its browser in the next few
weeks.
Shapiro, however, insisted that Microsoft is in a better position
to prevent that from happening, although he acknowledged that there
is some risk for problems. He said the court could reduce that risk
by requiring Microsoft to license the source code only for its
existing version of IE, and not future ones as required under the
state remedy.
Shapiro, the last witness for the states, is outlining the economic
case for several remedies, including making Office available for
other operating systems such as Linux; requiring complete
disclosure of Windows interfaces to third-party developers; and
giving PC makers more leeway to configure desktops.
Under this proposal, Microsoft would be forced to auction Office
licences to vendors for the right to port the suite of applications
to other operating systems. An official at Linux vendor Red Hat
testified earlier in the hearing that the company would likely bid
for an Office licence.
Shapiro said such remedies are needed to restore competition.
Microsoft is expected to call as its first witness WJ Sanders, the
chairman and chief executive officer of microprocessor manufacturer
Advanced Micro Devices. Sanders is expected to testify about the
benefits of Windows as a stable and consistent platform that has
contributed to the industry's growth. He is also expected to warn
that any "balkanisation" of Windows would harm consumers and a
variety of companies.
Other possible Microsoft witnesses this week include Kevin Murphy,
an economics professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School
of Business.
Microsoft also intends to call a string of company officials to
testify in its defence, including its chairman, Bill Gates. The
company has not said when Gates will testify.