MS trial: AOL a threat, says Microsoft

On Monday, Microsoft attempted to show the judge in its antitrust trial thatAmerica Online (AOL), which purchased Netscape Communications earlier thisyear, is a competitive threat that makes the government's case pointless.The heart of the government's case centers around Netscape, which saw thebusiness for its once mighty Web browser falter when Microsoft released itsInternet Explorer browser for free. The government alleges that Microsoftused anti-competitive practices to gain marketshare, effectively lockingNetscape out of the market.

To bolster its defense, Microsoft called AOL executive David Colburn as ahostile witness. Colburn testified that AOL considered swapping outMicrosoft's IE technology, which is used in AOL's Windows software, forNetscape Navigator but didn't do so because of "public relations concerns."

Microsoft attorney John Warden then presented an email message from AOL CEOSteve Case.

"My main point is we shouldn't assume we need or want to maintain IE as[the] primary browser," Case wrote. "Maybe that's the right answer, butmaybe not--we should push down on all possibilities before deciding."

AOL President Bob Pittman answered Case's email with his own message.

"I do think [Microsoft] is too strong to throw them out of the tent," hewrote. "They can hurt us if they think they have no other option. I think weneed to stay in business with them, create a need for them to need us andthen leave ourselves the flexibility to always accommodate them to a certainextent."

Government attorneys argue that AOL is no threat to Windows because theydon't sell an operating system. Warden says that AOL is a threat toMicrosoft because its software is a "platform" that could someday competewith Windows