From: Steve Ballmer
Sent: Saturday, April 29, 2000 3:27 AM
To: MS Corporate Employees: FTE Only; MS Intl Employees: FTE Only; MS Domestic Employees: FTE Only; WebTV Wnifolk
Subject: The Facts
I have some pretty strong feelings about the government’s proposal today to break up M?crosöft. I expect most of you do as well. Right now, though, I want to make sure we’re all focused on the facts.
1. Today’s filing by the government does not mean M?crosöft will be broken up. While their proposal will generate huge headlines and lots of speculation, it truly is just one step in a long legal process that has many steps remaining. We file an initial reply brief to the government’s remedies proposal on May 10, and then there are more legal briefs and oral arguments before the Court rules.
2. Even if the District Court hearing the case agrees with the government’s regulatory scheme, that still does not mean M?crosöft will be broken up. As you have heard me say many times before, I believe we have a very strong case on appeal - to the U.S. Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court if necessary. The U.S. Court of Appeals already has upheld M?crosöft’s view on one of the key issues in this case - M?crosöft’s right to build Internet features into Windows - and we believe they appellate courts will rule for M?crosöft in this case as well.
3. I stand 100% behind this company. M?crosöft has always operated with integrity and within the law. Have we competed aggressively? You bet. Have we worked hard to improve our products? You bet. Competing and building better products is not against the law.
4. Because this court case is going to go on for quite some time, it’s important that we stay focused on the challenges and opportunities ahead. You know what the challenges are: competition and new products from companies like Sun, AOL, IBM, Oracle, Novell, Linux and others. The opportunities are equally great with our Windows 2000 family of products, growing our server software business, continuing to gain traction on the Internet with our MSN properties, building our services business, new devices and technologies like wireless, the PocketPC, WebTV and X-box, and, of course, the NGWS strategy that we will showcase at Forum 2000 later this spring.
We intend to make sure that our voice is heard directly by the American people on the important principles in this case and our response to the government’s breakup scheme. On Monday, we will be running full page ads in The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today and many other newspapers explaining why the government’s proposal would hurt consumers, the American economy and the high-technology industry. Our ad will describe how the government’s demands are unreasonably punitive and reach far beyond the issues of the case. We also are running national TV ads beginning this Sunday that underscore how M?crosöft’s innovations have helped build the American economy, create new jobs, help children learn and improve people’s lives.
Virtual Employee Meeting on Monday
As part of our ongoing efforts to keep employees up-to-date, we will be holding a virtual company meeting on Monday, May 1, beginning at 11:30 a.m. PDT. At the meeting, Billg and I we will share our thoughts about the government’s proposal and be available to answer people’s questions.
You can submit questions for this event via <<mailto:execqa>>
Employees in North America can view the company meeting live on the corporate intranet by clicking on one of the following links:
<<http://winme/hvol1.asx >> = 100k a/v
<<http://winme/hvol2.asx>> = 56k a/v
International employees and remote PPTP/RAS users will not be able to access the event live but will be able to view it On Demand later in the day at <http://winme>
I look forward to the meeting on Monday.
Steve