SBC, Nokia to testify in Microsoft antitrust case

Peter Kaplan

WASHINGTON: Executives from SBC Communications Inc. and Nokia Corp. will

testify on behalf of the nine states that have refused to settle the antitrust

case against Microsoft Corp., according to a preliminary witness list obtained

by Reuters on Friday.

The appearance of the two telecommunications executives, at a hearing

scheduled for March, would mark the first time either of the companies have

weighed in on the politically charged case and signals growing concerns in other

industries about Microsoft's ever-expanding offerings.

Larry Pearson, a product design manager for SBC Operations Inc. and Nokia

vice president William Plummer are among 14 witnesses the hold-out states will

call before the court to give their opinions on what sanctions should be imposed

on Microsoft, which is the world's largest software company.

San Antonio, Texas-based SBC is the No. 2 US local telephone company and

Nokia, headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, is the world's largest maker of

mobile phones. A spokesman for Microsoft declined to comment on the witnesses.

The judge overseeing the case, US District Court Judge Colleen

Kollar-Kotelly, is trying to determine whether to endorse a settlement Microsoft

reached last month with the US Justice Department and nine other states in the

case.

The nine states that have refused to sign on to the settlement are pressing a

more stringent, alternative remedy. The witness list also includes

representatives of media giant America Online Inc., network computer maker Sun

Microsystems Inc., database software leader Oracle Corp. and other companies

that have been longtime critics of Microsoft.

Expected to add weight

Ed Black, head of the Computer & Communications Industry Association and

a vocal critic of Microsoft, said the new witnesses would add weight to the

hold-out states' arguments. "Their presence as witnesses brings great

credibility to the case and to the remedies proposed by the state AGs (attorneys

general)," Black said. He said the diversity of witnesses shows that

Microsoft's monopoly threatens "an ever-wider circle of American

industry." "There's an ever-growing number of companies who are

increasing their involvement (in the case) because they realize how much is at

stake in trying to ensure a competitive marketplace," Black said.

The hold-out states are asking Judge Kollar-Kotelly to close loopholes in the

settlement deal and to do more to ensure Microsoft discloses key Windows code to

other software makers. Under the proposal offered by the hold-out states, the

Redmond, Washington-based company would have to sell a stripped-down version of

Windows that would come without Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, as well

as its e-mail and media player software.

Beyond that, the hold-out states want the judge to ensure Microsoft Office,

the popular business software, will be compatible with other software platforms.

And their proposal would give competitors access to the inner workings of

Internet Explorer and allow them to sell their own customized version of the Web

browser.

Microsoft has criticized the alternative remedy offered by the hold-out

states as "radical and punitive" measures that "seem calculated

to inflict maximum commercial harm on Microsoft."

In the settlement reached with the Justice Department and nine states, the

software giant agreed to take steps to give computer makers more freedom to

feature rival software on their machines. The deal also requires the company to

share parts of the inner workings of Windows with other software makers.

© Reuters Limited.