Microsoft Asked Apple to `Knife the Baby,' Court Told

Introducing shades of Greek tragedy into the government's antitrust suit against Microsoft yesterday, Apple Computer executive Avadis Tevanian accused Microsoft of urging his company to "knife the baby" by killing one of its own products to make way for a rival Microsoft version. MEETING ABOUT QUICKTIMETevanian managed to insert his description of an exchange between Apple and Microsoft executives at an April 1997 meeting about Apple's QuickTime, an Internet software product that plays music and video. Tevanian is a star witness for the Department of Justice and 20 state attorneys general who accuse Microsoft of exploiting its monopoly in computer operating software -- Before the trial began, he submitted 45 pages of scathing testimony that accused Microsoft of using its market power to bully Apple into accepting Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser and to sabotage QuickTime. When Tevanian said he could not respond to questions about a complicated technical document without further study, the judge sustained an objection from government lawyers, barking at Edelman, "Fine, you call your own witness (to explain the document), but he's said he's unfamiliar with the document." After being urged by the judge to conclude his cross-examination, Edelman wrapped up with videotaped testimony that directly contradicted a key Apple allegation: that Compaq Computer Corp. dropped QuickTime because the company was afraid of vexing Microsoft.