| 1 | IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
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| 2 | FOR THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
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| 3 |
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| 4 |
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| 5 | | UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, | |
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| 6 | |
| 7 | | vs. | |
| | No. CIV 98-1232 (TPJ) |
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| 8 | | MICROSOFT CORPORATION, | |
| | VOLUME III |
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| 9 | | Defendant. | |
| | CONFIDENTIAL |
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| 10 |
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| 11 |
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| 12 |
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| 13 | DEPOSITION OF BILL GATES, a witness
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| 14 | herein, taken on behalf of the plaintiffs at
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| 15 | 9:11 a.m., Wednesday, September 2, 1998, at One
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| 16 | Microsoft Way, Redmond, Washington, before Kathleen
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| 17 | E. Barney, CSR, pursuant to Subpoena.
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| 18 | Stamp: (Handwritten) 60-7371-0014
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| 19 | Stamp: DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
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| 20 | Stamp: SEP -3 1998
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| 21 | Stamp: ANTITRUST DIVISION
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| 22 | Stamp: SAN FRANCISCO OFFICE
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| 23 | REPORTED BY:
Kathleen E. Barney, |
| 24 | CSR No. 5698
Our File No. 1-49196 |
| 25 |
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| 1 | time somebody sent an e-mail, part of the subject of
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| 2 | which was DR DOS, and then this someone unidentified
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| 3 | deleted the e-mail. Was that you, sir? Was this
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| 4 | someone that you're referring to you?
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| 5 | A. I think it's true in general that not
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| 6 | every message that everyone here ever received about
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| 7 | DR DOS would have necessarily been preserved by them
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| 8 | because most people here delete most of the e-mail
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| 9 | they receive every day.
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| 10 | In terms of me in particular, it's
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| 11 | possible that sometime in history -- I'd say it's
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| 12 | even likely -- I received a message about DR DOS that
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| 13 | I didn't choose to keep. I don't keep most e-mail I
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| 14 | receive.
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| 15 | Q. Is there a message relating to DR DOS
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| 16 | that not only did you choose to delete, but did you
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| 17 | ask somebody else to delete?
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| 18 | A. No.
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| 19 | Q. Is there any message relating to DR DOS
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| 20 | that you recall deleting?
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| 21 | A. Well, since I delete 98 percent of my
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| 22 | e-mails, I think it's likely that once there was a
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| 23 | message about DR DOS that I deleted, but I don't
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| 24 | recall any specific message.
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| 25 | Q. That's what I'm asking. I'm not asking
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589
| 1 | what was likely. I'm asking whether there was any
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| 2 | message, in whole or in part, relating to DR DOS that
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| 3 | as you sit here now under oath you can tell me that
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| 4 | you remember deleting or causing to be deleted?
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| 5 | A. No.
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| 6 | Q. When was the last time you think it is
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| 7 | likely that you deleted a message relating to DR DOS?
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| 8 | A. Well, I don't think I've gotten a
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| 9 | message that related to DR DOS in the last five
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| 10 | years.
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| 11 | Q. Have you deleted messages not only that
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| 12 | you have received with respect to DR DOS but also
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| 13 | messages that you have sent?
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| 14 | A. I don't preserve messages that I send,
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| 15 | so there's no --
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| 16 | Q. You never preserve messages that you
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| 17 | send?
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| 18 | A. I don't preserve them. There is the
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| 19 | extremely rare case, which I've done almost never,
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| 20 | where you copy yourself on the e-mail.
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| 21 | Q. And you don't either copy yourself or
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| 22 | copy some file or something like that?
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| 23 | A. No.
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| 24 | Q. I just want to be sure of your
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| 25 | testimony. Your testimony is you have never asked
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590
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