Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Steve Ballmer is the subject of a new legal squabble in a lawsuit over the company's Windows Vista marketing practices.
The Redmond company on Friday filed a motion opposing an effort by plaintiffs' lawyers to depose Ballmer in the case. In a supporting document filed with the motion, the Microsoft CEO wrote that he "was not involved in any of the operational decisions" about the Windows Vista Capable marketing program at the center of the suit.
Ballmer added that all his knowledge about those decisions came through other people at the company, including then-Windows executives Jim Allchin and Will Poole. The plaintiffs also are seeking to depose Allchin and Poole, both of whom have since left the company.
Microsoft used the Windows Vista Capable stickers and marketing program prior to the operating system's January 2007 retail launch, seeking to assure computer users that the PCs they were buying would be able to run Vista when it came out.
The suit alleges that many of those machines didn't warrant the designation, because they didn't support many of the operating system's signature features, such as a 3D file-browsing capability and a glossy interface known as Aero Glass. The plaintiffs are consumers who bought new computers before the retail launch.
Earlier filings in the case revealed internal Microsoft e-mails in which executives privately raised concerns about Windows Vista, even as the company publicly touted its capabilities. Other e-mails raised questions about Intel's involvement in the process, suggesting that Microsoft lowered the requirements for the Windows Vista Capable designation at the behest of the chip maker.
The case has been given class-action status, and it is proceeding toward trial in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
"This unnecessary request to depose Steve Ballmer is part of an effort by class action lawyers to generate media interest in topics that fall outside the narrow theory the court allowed them to pursue in this lawsuit in February," said Microsoft spokesman David Bowermaster in an e-mailed statement.
A lawyer for the plaintiffs wasn't available to comment Friday afternoon.
Source : http://www.bizjournals.com/
