At the antitrust trial on Thursday morning, an attempt by the Microsoft Corp counsel to prove that there had been no direct threats made by Redmond against Apple Computer Corp’s QuickTime multimedia technology, backfired spectacularly. Theodore Edelman asked Apple Computer Corp’s Avadis Tevanian about a June 15 1998 meeting at which he alleged that Microsoft pressured Apple to cede the multimedia playback market to them. Edelman repeatedly pushed Tevanian on whether there had been any direct threats made. Tevanian eventually retorted, what they were proposing was effectively killing QuickTime. He went on to give an account of the meeting, which was attended by Microsoft’s Eric Engstrom, Christopher Philips and Apple’s Tim Schaff and Peter Hoddie. Tevanian related how Hoddie asked: Do you want us to knife the baby? – which Tevanian claimed meant QuickTime. Philips replied: Yes, we’re talking about knifing the baby. Tevanian also recalled a lunch meeting he had with Redmond’s Don Bradford where the Microsoft allegedly told Tevanian that Bill Gates thought Apple should concentrate on multimedia authoring software, leaving the playback field clear for Microsoft. Talking on the windy courthouse steps at lunchtime recess, Microsoft spokesperson Mark Murray dismissed the accusations as, overheated rhetoric that actually began with Apple.
