Gates says states' remedy "impossible"
C|Net | at | by Mike
Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates on Monday argued that it would be "impossible" in some cases to comply with a proposed remedy in the nearly 4-year-old antitrust trial. In the 157 pages of written testimony submitted before his appearance on the witness stand, Gates said the remedy proposed by nine litigating states and the District of Columbia is unworkable and would damage Microsoft and the computing industry. He said stability, consistency and quality of Windows, the ability to run the operating system across a vast array of hardware, and the assurance of intellectual property protection are essential to Microsoft's business.
"It would be extremely difficult, if not impossible in some cases for Microsoft to comply with" the states' remedy, Gates argued. He said that many of the proposals would "lead to extreme results" and that vague and ambiguous definitions provide "Microsoft with no clear statement of its obligations." He warned that the states' remedy provisions on so-called middleware "would effectively turn back the clock on Windows development by about 10 years and effectively freeze it there."