Judge orders Gates, Ballmer to testify in class-action antitrust lawsuit

[K.Mandla]

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8L5OV8G0.htm


DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — A district court judge in Iowa has ordered Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates and CEO Steve Ballmer to testify in person at a trial that starts in Iowa later this month. ...

The company is facing a class-action antitrust lawsuit, which seeks up to $450 million for Iowans who have purchased the software maker's products since 1994. The case claims anticompetitive practices by Microsoft caused consumers to pay more for its products that they would have otherwise. ...

[Polygon]

this shall be interestering... can anyone elaborate on the charges otherwise "they paid too much"?

[APNelson.L]

This may get interesting but from what I have seen most major companies are in trouble a lot of the time. They usually end up coming to some agreement that ends in the company not having to pay though.

[K.Mandla]

Also interesting, with a slightly different perspective. ...

http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061103/BUSINESS04/611030378/1029/BUSINESS


A judge has derailed Des Moines lawyer Roxanne Conlin's effort to create legal precedent in an Iowa class-action lawsuit against Microsoft, but other Microsoft attempts to impose limits on the scope of the case failed. ...

The most significant was an order denying Conlin's request to create a new type of damage claim called "loss of innovation." ...

The new claim, she said, was based on allegations that Microsoft had used its market dominance to discourage other software makers from producing products that would have been superior to the Web browser Internet Explorer and other Microsoft products.

Rosenberg ruled against the new theory. He sided with Microsoft and said that basing damage claims on "denial of free choice and loss of the benefits of software innovation are too speculative." ...
Emphasis is mine.