A trial of biblical proportions

Ever since the Microsoft antitrust case began here a month ago, reliable sources tell me, the locals have reported flying-saucer sightings in the vicinity of the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. District Court House, host to the most celebrated trial-by-e-mail in history.

Whatever the truth to those rumors, there was nothing cosmic to understanding the job ahead of Microsoft.

After botching his first day of cross-examination, the software giant's lawyer, Steven Holley, knew he had to come out hitting hard on Thursday -- and he did, throwing everything but the kitchen sink at Intel Vice President Steven McGeady.

And no sooner had the hanging judge, Thomas Penfield Jackson, settled his ample posterior into his seat than Holley moved to impeach the credibility of McGeady.

Portraying the Intel exec as a loose cannon who nursed a deep-seated grudge against Microsoft, Holley subjected McGeady to the kind of savage cross-examination that would have made his law professors proud.

McGeady was just sore at Microsoft, blaming the company for his demotion and temporary one-year exile to MIT, Holley claimed. Not only that, he violated Intel procedures by breaking business confidences and opening up a back-channel gab line to Netscape.

In quick order, the adjectives "belligerent," "prima donna" and "f***ed up" were introduced into the court, as Holley quoted Intel executives offering their personal assessments of McGeady.

No doubt McGeady's handlers prepared him for the possibility of being on the receiving end of a shotgun blast. And with Holley dealing out as much punishment as possible, McGeady kept his cool throughout.

But by day's end, Microsoft would trumpet the new evidence as proof that Intel had a malcontent on its hands.

A little bitter
And the fact is, McGeady did harbor some bitterness against Microsoft.

Consider, for example, McGeady's remarkably candid two-page August 1995 memo laying out strains in Intel's relationship with Microsoft.

He wrote that Bill Gates was responsible for dismemberment of the Intel Architecture Labs, making "vague threats" because he did not want the group's 750 engineers "interfering with his plans for domination of the PC industry."

It was positively devilish of ol' Bill to do such a deed. In fact, as McGeady duly noted:

"Microsoft is said to have spent as much as $4M to gain access to the Rolling Stones' song 'Start Me Up' for use in their Windows 95 promotions. If Intel were to go looking for a corporate theme song from the same source, an appropriate choice might be 'Sympathy for the Devil.' "

The memo only lived in his personal file, but McGeady later leaked it to the New York Times -- a no-no departure from the uptight, control-central rules that prevail at Intel.

That was catnip for Holley, who worked up a picture of McGeady as a "lone wolf" pursuing a personal agenda at odds with Intel's own management.

Dissing the witness
And so it went all morning until the usually phlegmatic Judge Jackson felt compelled to interrupt the dissing session.

"Are you just trying to embarrass him?" Jackson asked.

"No, I am not trying to embarrass him," Holley said. "Though that may be the consequence of it."

During his redirect, lead DOJ attorney David Boies repaired some of the damage done to his witness.

Over Holley's objections, Jackson let Boies introduce some newspaper articles quoting Gates mouthing off about how Netscape was totally dependent upon its Internet software for profits.

On cue, McGeady then interpreted the concept of cutting off Netscape's "air supply" -- warning of the grim consequences if a competitor can "take away the ability to generate enough profit to fund the next generation of software."

I thought the government's best moment came late in the afternoon.

MS 'on the attack again'
McGeady had earlier been accused of concocting or exaggerating Microsoft's threats. But Boies quoted from an e-mail sent by Microsoft exec Paul Maritz saying, "We will watch Intel's feet and mouths, and if the walk/talk is different, we will go on the attack again."

Them be fighting words, but after the day's proceedings, Microsoft's unflappable flak was nonetheless back at the microphone, where he tickled the press hangers-on with the best quote du jour: "Intel and Microsoft have a strong and very durable relationship."

Minutes later, the nut jobs had descended upon the scene to proclaim the end of the world. All in all ... a fitting way to end Week 4.