Microsoft Corp. on Friday pulled chief executive Steve Ballmer from its list of remaining defense witnesses, confident of making its case without calling its No. 2 executive.
Microsoft told the federal judge overseeing hearings on the demands by nine states for stiff sanctions against the software giant that Ballmer will not be among the four remaining witnesses it will present.
"We believe the remaining issues we need to address in our case will be covered by these (remaining) witnesses," the company said in a statement.
In addition to Ballmer, Microsoft also decided to cancel the appearance of Gayle Brock, a company official who oversees relations with computer makers.
The cancellations leave two company officials, an economist and a computer science professor on Microsoft's witness list.
Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and co-founder, took the stand less than two week's ago, declaring the states' demands were impossible to meet and would harm consumers.
On Monday, Microsoft declared Gates' testimony a success and took a first cut at its remaining witness.
News source: Reuters - Ballmer Won't Testify in Microsoft Antitrust Case
Microsoft told the federal judge overseeing hearings on the demands by nine states for stiff sanctions against the software giant that Ballmer will not be among the four remaining witnesses it will present.
"We believe the remaining issues we need to address in our case will be covered by these (remaining) witnesses," the company said in a statement.
In addition to Ballmer, Microsoft also decided to cancel the appearance of Gayle Brock, a company official who oversees relations with computer makers.
The cancellations leave two company officials, an economist and a computer science professor on Microsoft's witness list.
Bill Gates, Microsoft chairman and co-founder, took the stand less than two week's ago, declaring the states' demands were impossible to meet and would harm consumers.
On Monday, Microsoft declared Gates' testimony a success and took a first cut at its remaining witness.
News source: Reuters - Ballmer Won't Testify in Microsoft Antitrust Case
STATES BUCK SETTLEMENT PLAN
The nine hold-out states, including California, Massachusetts and Iowa, have refused to sign on to a settlement of the four-year-old case reached between Microsoft and the Justice Department in November.
The decision to pull Ballmer means that "they're very confident in their case," said Robert Litan, director of economic studies at the Brookings Institution.
"They're reading of the tea leaves is that the judge is not going to go further than the Justice Department settlement," Litan said.
The Justice Department settlement is designed to give computer makers more freedom to promote non-Microsoft software on the machines they sell by hiding some of Windows' features.
But the hold-out states have proposed tougher sanctions, including a version of Windows where the add-on features could be removed rather than just hidden.
The decision to cancel Ballmer and Brock allows Microsoft to sidestep some of the risks of having them testify, Litan said.
Their presence on the witness stand could have allowed the states' attorneys to introduce a slew of potentially incriminating documents, including internal Microsoft e-mails and correspondence from computer makers.
The states have accused Microsoft of using the Justice Department settlement to strengthen its grip over computer makers with onerous new uniform licensing terms.
They have offered the judge documents to back up that claim. But it's unclear whether the judge will allow additional evidence unless Microsoft calls a witness who is connected to them.
On the other hand, Ballmer could have bolstered Microsoft's case by rebutting some of the allegations made against the company.
"If they pull Ballmer they're taking a calculated gamble that it doesn't matter," Litan said.
A federal appeals court in June upheld trial court findings that Microsoft illegally maintained its Windows monopoly in personal computer operating systems.
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