By Rachel Chalmers
At yesterday afternoon’s questioning of Microsoft Corp witness Paul Maritz at the antitrust trial in Washington, lines of questioning kept getting bogged down by Maritz’s refusal to be drawn into unwanted admissions. Boies tackled Maritz on when Netscape had come to be seen as a potential threat to Microsoft, and why. Maritz said that it was in the first half of the calendar year of 1995 that Microsoft began to realize that Netscape’s browser could become a platform in itself, doing away with the need for an operating system like Windows. Boies asked Maritz about his widely reported contention that browser market share was Microsoft’s number one goal. Maritz said he had meant that it was important that Internet Explorer be widely used. Our goal is to give large numbers of customers every reason to prefer our platform, he said. Did you care whether you were increasing your market share at the expense of Netscape? Boies asked, returning to the same line of questioning that Gates famously stonewalled in his videotaped deposition. Gates’ deputy proved no more forthcoming. I was aware that Netscape was our principal competitor, was all Maritz would concede. He said the idea of expanding market share was a straightforward principle of competition. Boies kept rephrasing the question, apparently trying to trip Maritz, but Maritz was a patient and stubborn witness. He kept his temper and held his ground. During this exchange Judge Jackson blew his nose loudly. Later, he seemed to doze.
