States Draw Judge's Ire, Withdraw Additional Witness

Microsoft

In response to her directive to share with Microsoft's legal team information they would need to question the new witness, the states presented 67 CD-ROMs of data.

Microsoft attorney Steven Holley complained that "we're now being expected to take account of and respond to" the equivalent of 36,000 400-page books in a matter of days.

The judge dressed down states attorney Steven Kuney, saying the move was "absolutely astounding."

James Bach, who runs a Front Royal, Va.-based software testing consulting firm called Satisfice, was to have been questioned next week by attorneys for Microsoft and the nine states that argue the company should be subjected to broader sanctions.

While chief scientist at STLabs, Bellevue, Wash., Bach developed software testing methodologies and spent time using them in a lab dedicated to Microsoft product testing.

The states' legal team said Bach had altered Microsoft's Windows XP Embedded operating system for use on a PC, something prohibited by Microsoft licensing rules. Originally, lawyers had hoped Bach's work will prove that Microsoft can offer a modular version of Windows, something the company says would be too technically complex to deliver and too costly to support.

Windows XP Embedded is currently licensed for set-top boxes and other devices.

Despite the withdrawal of Bach from the witness roster, solution providers said it's not impossible to strip down Windows.

"The modular version of Windows is believable and achievable," said Jeff Gallimore, principal at Excella Consulting, McLean, Va.

Meanwhile, Lou Hutchinson, CEO of Arlington, Va.-based solution provider Crunchy Technologies, said sharing Microsoft's intellectual property "will allow developers and partners to further enhance Microsoft dominance in the desktop environment by building solutions that are further integrated into their technology."

Matt Roche, co-president and CEO of San Francisco-based Fort Point Partners, looked to the U.S. Constitution to back his opinion, pointing to its support for policies that promote the progress of science.

"There is an intrinsic benefit to society to open up code that is prevalent," Roche added. "It can dramatically increase commercial activity and innovation."