A Microsoft executive presented a plan in 1999 to conquer the market for audio and video delivery over the Internet using a tactic already employed to fend off a rival Internet browser, a federal judge was told on Thursday.
Nine states seeking stiff antitrust sanctions against the software giant cited a Jan. 3, 1999, e-mail to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates outlining a plan to use the dominant Windows operating system to promote Microsoft's Netshow media streaming software over that offered by RealNetworks.
Microsoft executive Anthony Bay urged Gates to "reposition streaming media battle from Netshow vs. Real to Windows vs. Real" and "follow the (Internet Explorer) strategy wherever appropriate."
The nine states have rejected a proposed settlement of the 4-year-old landmark case, saying it is too weak to prevent Microsoft from continuing to abuse its Windows monopoly.
An appeals court last year upheld trial court findings that Microsoft had illegally preserved the Windows monopoly by tactics that included commingling the operating system code with its Internet Explorer program to fend off Netscape.
A states' attorney presented the e-mail while questioning a Microsoft executive who denied in written testimony that the company had used the Windows operating system monopoly to thwart RealNetworks' media players.
News source: ZDNet News - States: Microsoft planned to crush Real
