09:22 PM ET 09/22/98
U.S. says Microsoft depositions should be opened
WASHINGTON, Sept 22 (Reuters) - The Justice Department on
Tuesday argued that depositions by Microsoft CEO Bill
Gates and other executives in the government's antitrust case
against the software giant should be made public.
A similar brief was filed by a group of news organizations,
including The New York Times, Reuters and Bloomberg.
The Justice Department brought suit against Microsoft in
May, charging it violated antitrust laws by unfairly leveraging
a monopoly in software operating systems for personal
computers.
Gates gave testimony on Aug. 27 in preparation for the
trial, which is set for Oct. 15.
Several news organizations, including Reuters, asked to be
present at the depositions under a federal law, the Publicity
in Taking Evidence Act. That act requires depositions to be
open in antitrust cases brought by the government.
A federal judge ruled that the law required that the
depositions be open, but an appellate court overturned the
judge pending arguments in the case.
The Justice Department argued on Tuesday that tapes and
transcripts of the depositions must be opened, except for
proprietary materials.
Microsoft has argued that Congress did not include
"discovery depositions," which are to find new evidence, but
only meant to require the opening of depositions held in place
of live court testimony.
In its brief, the Justice Department argued that in some
instances the depositions will be used in place of live court
testimony and, in any event, the law is broader than Microsoft
contends.
The news organizations argued that Microsoft incorrectly
tried to attach special meaning to the word deposition.
"In the 85 years since (the law was passed) ... all three
branches of the federal government have consistently expressed
the understanding that, absent specific legislation to the
contrary, the act applies to all depositions," the news
organizations argued.
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