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