Microsoft CEO Ballmer ordered to testify in court
The “Vista Capable” class-action lawsuit has been a sore subject for Microsoft for some time. Now the federal judge presiding over the case has ordered Steve Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, to testify in court. This is an extremely embarrassing development for Ballmer.
According to Computer World, a federal judge last Friday, ordered Ballmer to appear in court to testify in the “Vista Capable” lawsuit. The lawsuit came about after it was revealed that Microsoft relaxed the requirements for Vista upon pressure from Intel. This in turn angered HP, as the company had invested in parts determined from the original requirement specification.
Microsoft pleaded that Ballmer had no knowledge of the Vista Capable program and should not have to testify in court. However, the judge rejected the claim and ordered the CEO to appear in court. Federal judge Marsha Peachman indicated that Ballmer must meet with the plaintiff’s lawyers within 30 days.
Apparently, last month Microsoft tried to block the deposition by indicating that Ballmer had no prior knowledge of the program. Ballmer even stated, “I was not involved in establishing the requirements computers must satisfy to qualify for the Windows Vista Capable program. I was not involved in formulating any marketing strategy or any public messaging surrounding the Windows Vista Capable program.”
Microsoft representatives stated that Jim Allchin and Will Poole, two executives that left the company back in 2007, were mostly responsible for the Vista-capable program. Personally, it sounds like corporate politics at work here. It seems that two expendable executives were designated as the scapegoats.
It is curious how high this decision actually went up. You would think that the requirements discussion for Vista would have gone up all the way to the top. It seems that the world may never know now.
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November 23rd, 2008
Why would you think Vista hardware requirements would go up to Ballmer? 8 different versions of the OS and the size of the company make it easily possible.
That aside, I’d still make him testify to get it on the record one way or the other.
November 24th, 2008
Perhaps Mr Ballmer can do a dance for the court. If that doesn’t work, he should throw a chair at the judge and make good his escape.