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must have been the other Bill Gates



              February 17, 2000


              Microsoft Denies Gates Offered to Open Windows Code


              REUTERS INDEX | INTERNATIONAL | BUSINESS | TECHNOLOGY 


              Filed at 8:41 p.m. ET

              By Reuters

              SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Microsoft Corp.(MSFT.O) on
              Thursday strongly denied that
              Chairman Bill Gates had told Bloomberg Television in an
              interview that he would be willing
              to open the Windows operating system source code to
              competitors to settle an antitrust suit
              with the U.S. Justice Department. 

              ``Bill did not make any of the comments attributed to him
              about the settlement,'' Microsoft
              spokesman Jim Cullinan said. ''The comments they said Bill
              made are just not true.'' 

              The suit by the Justice Department and 19 states is in a
              mediation phase and both sides have
              been instructed by the mediating judge, Richard Posner, not
              to talk to the media about details
              of the case. 

              Just hours after Gates unveiled Windows 2000, the latest
              version of its flagship product,
              Bloomberg quoted Gates as saying, ``Microsoft Corp. would be
              willing to open the source
              code for Windows software to competitors to settle the
              antitrust case filed by the U.S.
              Department of Justice.'' 

              Bloomberg later issued a correction saying that the release
              should have read, ``Bill Gates
              agreed with the statement'' that Microsoft would be willing
              to open the Windows source code
              in order to settle. 

              Cullinan emphasized that Gates had made no comments about
              opening the Windows source
              code. Windows accounts for about 40 percent of the Redmond,
              Wash.-based software
              company's revenues. 

              ``He just said that we would be doing our best to settle the
              case,'' Cullinan said, adding that
              such statements were the company's routine way of answering
              questions about the antitrust
              suit. 

              Microsoft planned to make a transcript of the interview
              available on its Web site later on
              Thursday, Cullinan said. 

              The Justice Department has argued that Microsoft abused its
              monopoly in computer
              operating systems to crush rivals and stifle innovation,
              charges that the court has largely
              agreed with. 

              There has been speculation that the Justice Department could
              seek a break-up of Microsoft, a
              move the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant vigorously
              opposes. 

              Another solution would be to open the Windows source code,
              which would let other software
              developers, including Microsoft competitors, create and sell
              their own versions of Windows,
              analysts have said.