5 years ago...Microsoft hurt by 'cut-and-paste' video evidence

04.02.1999: Microsoft's credibility took another hammering yesterday, when a US Department of Justice (DoJ) lawyer proved it had faked video evidence.

The video demonstration was meant to prove that Windows' performance is inhibited when the Internet Explorer browser is removed from the operating system. The video supposedly showed a single computer running Windows 98 both with and without the browser included.

But as senior Microsoft executive, James Allchin watched from the witness box, the video demonstration went horribly wrong. DoJ lawyer, David Boies showed the court a sudden change in toolbar icons during the video, saying it proved that more than one computer and software package had been used - a claim Allchin accepted.

Today, the software giant will screen a new video, shot last night - this time using a single computer.

04.02.2004: Along with Bill Gates' now famous video testimony, the Microsoft antitrust trial continued to grab the headlines for some time.

The company was found guilty but the courts stopped short of any remedy that would have seen Microsoft broken up. And that wasn't the end of it. Some US states are still going pursuing Microsoft through the courts for alleged breaches of the settlement, while the European Commission is reportedly set to find against the company over breaches of European competition laws over the bundling of Windows Media Player with its operating systems.