Microsoft Corp Counsel Theodore Edelman strung out nearly a full day of further cross examination of Apple Computer Corp’s Avadis Tevanian before delivering what was to be his killer punch, at the antitrust trial on Thursday. Rounding on accusations in the vice president of software engineering’s testimony that Compaq Computer Corp did not bundle Apple’s QuickTime because it was afraid of Microsoft’s reaction, he played snippets of testimony from Compaq’s director of software procurement Steven Decker. Tevanian had claimed that Decker told Apple’s Philip Schiller – at a QuickTime demonstration meeting – that Compaq was wary of doing anything to upset Microsoft. However, Decker said on tape that the reason for Compaq’s wariness was that the firm was being asked to pay for QuickTime 3.0, where earlier QuickTime versions had been free. Decker stated, we weren’t about to pay Apple a royalty for that product. Asked if Compaq had to pay for the Microsoft equivalent, NetShow, Decker replied that it was included as part of the operating system. Decker went on to say that Compaq had been willing to continue bundling the earlier version of QuickTime for free, but that this was not an option on the table. When Decker was then asked if Microsoft had been discussed at the meeting, he replied: I don’t ever recall that.
