Ballmer promises 'responsible' Microsoft

By Matt Whipp

Posted on 13 Nov 2002 at 11:58

Speaking for the first time since the approval of the antitrust settlement, Steve Ballmer, CEO at Microsoft, commented on how the company will shape up to the terms of the remedy

At yesterday's event, hosted by the Brookings Institute in Washington DC, Ballmer told of the company's committment to complying with the terms, including setting up an antitrust compliance committee. 'We've already made many of the necessary changes, and we are dedicated, from the top down, to really living those obligations. We've taken a number of steps to disclose additional technical details about Windows, and to make the design and contractual changes required by the decree,' he said.

He also reaffirmed that the proceedings in reaching the settlement were above board and professional (in accordance with the Tunney Act) and that he believed the settlement to be, 'the fairest and best way to resolve the case'.

The Microsoft spin on the settlement is that the case affirms the company's status. 'Even five years ago, I think we still tended to think of ourselves as kind of a small company that was just getting started... Today, though, we clearly recognise we are an important industry leader... We have an important leadership role to play, and there are new rules that apply, both legally and in terms of the needs and dictates that come from our industry.'

This mirrors the company's reaction to the FTC telling it to pull its socks up on its claims of security and privacy this summer: rather than the ruling being a rap on the knuckles for Microsoft, the company preferred to see it as a benchmark for the industry on such issues.

Ballmer highlighted the need for close relationships with governments as one of 'the keys to economic growth' as well as an important step to tackling crime on the Internet.

The 'new' Microsoft, promises Ballmer, will be 'upfront about what [it is] doing, who it affects, being open in communicating about every aspect of our business, and certainly sensitive to the new issues of corporate governance... If one of our products or one of our attempts falls short, we don't sugar-coat the problems. We try to take accountability for our actions. We dig in, we make things better.'

The company will increase its R&D budget 15 per cent to $5bn, said Ballmer, speaking of the new XML (.Net) technologies that will provide 'new levels of coordinated data and information' to businesses. As communications technologies converge and computing power continues to grow quickly, Ballmer believes 'we're on the verge of the next quantum step forward'.