“In an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday, Gates
was quoted as saying the software giant would be willing to open to
competitors the source code to its Windows operating system, its
flagship product, to settle the lawsuit brought by the U.S. Justice
Department….”
“Bill did not comment in any way on the mediation process or any
settlement proposals,” said company spokesman Jim Cullinan….”
“Just because he says he’s interested doesn’t indicate he’s
ready to make a deal,” said Stephen Houck, a New York antitrust
lawyer who was the lead counsel for the 19 states during the course
of the Microsoft antitrust trial. “Making the source code
available has a lot of theoretical appeal. But they would have to
do a lot of work to make sure it’s a viable package that would
interest potential competitors.“