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Gates eyes 'good' settlement
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March 26, 1999: 7:53 a.m. ET
Software CEO tells CNN he'd love to settle suit, but not if it hurts consumers
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LONDON (CNNfn) - Microsoft chief Bill Gates said Friday he was intent on seeing the U.S. government's bruising antitrust suit against his company settled, but not if that means sacrificing the software titan's ability to innovate in any way.
He stressed that his company should be allowed to add features to its Windows operating system without making consumers pay more for them.
"The key principles are very beneficial to consumers - they deserve to have us putting new capabilities in," Gates told CNN, referring to the lawsuit during a stopover in London to promote his new book, Business @ The Speed of Thought.
"Everything we did that's in that trial, including support for the Internet, it's one of the greatest things we've ever done."
Gates stands by his Microsoft
The world's richest man made his remarks two days after the U.S. government rejected as unacceptable a settlement proposal sent by Microsoft to antitrust officials and 19 states involved in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit charges that Microsoft abused its dominant industry position to exert leverage over rivals.
Government officials are seeking changes in Microsoft's behavior, while dangling the threat of a more radical solution that could see the company split up into several so-called "Baby Bills."
Europe suffers digital 'lag'
On another issue, Gates voiced concern about Europe's perceived "lag" with the United States in embracing the "new world" of digital information technology which he describes in his new book.
"Now the growth in the last year in Europe was very rapid and so you can say the gap is closing a bit," Gates said. "But I think it's still an issue of great concern. A lot of kids graduate from college in Europe without having the in-depth exposure that most U.S. students receive. So there's work to be done."
Gates blamed sclerotic telecom markets across Europe for keeping phone fees artificially high and inhibiting access to the Internet.
The remarks underscored some of the obstacles that remain before Europe can fully partake of the digital revolution sweeping the U.S.
In his book Gates argues that electronic information will be the "digital nervous system" that governs businesses in the near future. The system combines personal computers, the Internet and other communication technologies to make data easily and instantly accessible to workers.
"Building a Digital Nervous System does not require some huge new investment in hardware and software," Gates writes in the book. "In fact, most companies have the key building blocks today."
But most aren't using them yet, Gates asserted Friday.
"The web work-style is really just at the beginning," he said. "There are very few companies who have taken the steps to allow their workers to have this broad view of everything that's going on.
Tackling the millennium bug
"I think you'll see it first in technology companies, but it'll spread rapidly because the competitive environment is demanding that businesses change."
Addressing another topic, the CEO said he thought most companies are "doing a good job" of working expeditiously to tackle the millennium bug. He noted that his own company had made the Y2K problem a "top priority" with customers.
Asked about whether he'd be willing to make further concessions in the antitrust suit, Gates insisted Friday he had done everything in his power to settle the case.
But he clung adamantly to the prerogative to innovate - echoing his long-standing argument that it's "clearly beneficial" for consumers.
"Well before the case was filed Microsoft did everything it could to try and settle the case," Gates said. "In fact, there were about 10 days when day and night I was on the phone and made every effort I could."
He added: "Having this case settled would be a good thing, and Microsoft at all times has put its energy into seeing that that could be done."
Business @ The Speed of Thought is published by Time Warner affiliate Warner Books Inc. Time Warner also owns CNN and CNNfn.com.
--By staff writer Douglas Herbert
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