June 25, 1999

Chronology of Microsoft Case

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

ey dates in the antitrust investigation of Microsoft Corp., the largest maker of personal computer software:

1975 _ Microsoft founded by Paul Allen and Bill Gates, friends who co-wrote a programming language for the Altair hobby-kit personal computer a year before.

July 1994 _ Microsoft in a consent decree agrees to change contracts with PC makers and eliminate some restrictions on other software makers, ending a Justice Department investigation launched in 1993.

August 1995 _ Microsoft launches Windows 95.

December 1995 _ Gates details shift in Microsoft strategy to focus on the Internet.

September 1997 _ Microsoft launches Internet Explorer 4.0 in stepped-up challenge to Netscape Communications Corp., whose share of browser market slips to fewer than two-thirds of Internet users.

October 1997 _ Justice Department sues Microsoft, alleging it violated the 1994 consent decree by forcing computer makers to use its Internet browser as a condition of selling its popular Windows operating software.

December 1997 _ U.S. District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson issues preliminary injunction forcing Microsoft to stop, at least temporarily, requiring manufacturers who sell Windows 95 ``or any successor'' to install its Internet Explorer. Microsoft appeals.

May 1998 _ Justice Department and 20 state attorneys general sue Microsoft, charging it illegally thwarted competition to protect and extend its monopoly on software.

June 23, 1998 _ A three-judge federal appeals panel removes restrictions that Jackson imposed on Windows 95 software, saying there was adequate justification to bundle the Internet browser in Windows.

Aug. 27, 1998 _ Two government lawyers begin questioning Gates for 30 hours over three days in a videotaped deposition. Excerpts are shown in the courtroom during the trial, and Gates appears so evasive and forgetful that even the judge is surprised.

Oct. 19, 1998 _ The antitrust trial begins, expected to last only six weeks.

Nov. 24, 1998 _ America Online confirms it will buy Netscape in a deal ultimately worth $10 billion, weeks after testimony in the trial from senior executives at both companies.

Jan. 13 _ Government rests its case after calling 12 witnesses.

Feb. 3 _ In one of the trial's most dramatic moments, the judge admonishes Microsoft over a seriously flawed video demonstration it used as evidence. The company admits it edited together video segments so it appeared a single computer was being tested.

Feb. 26 _ Microsoft rests its case, also after 12 witnesses.

June 1 _ The final, rebuttal phase of the trial begins, with each side allowed to call three more witnesses each.

June 23 _ All testimony ends. Judge instructs lawyers to submit written arguments Aug. 10, and sets the next courtroom appearance for Sept. 21.