Windows pain: The Tipline for 27 August 2019

Twenty-one years ago today, the Department of Justice’s antitrust division began a three-day deposition of Bill Gates. Former Antitrust Division attorney David Boies questioned the Microsoft founder on whether his company sought to crush rival internet browsers such as Netscape. Gates replied with what some commentators described as “hair-splitting word games”. The DOJ used a nearly hour-long segment of the deposition to open the trial, including Gates’s reaction to an email sent by a fellow Microsoft executive. “We need to continue our jihad next year. ... Browser share needs to remain a key priority for our field and marketing efforts,” the email read. “It doesn’t say Microsoft,” Gates responded. The federal district court judge presiding over the trial reportedly laughed and shook his head during the airing of the deposition.