Gates takes stand for first time

Bill Gates has taken the stand for the first time in his company's epic antitrust case.

He said the penalties being sought by nine states would undermine Microsoft Windows software used by millions of Americans.

Gates also argued the penalties the states have sought would give Microsoft's competitors an unfair advantage.

The penalties include requiring Microsoft to divulge some of the blueprints and technical information about how Windows and other company products work.

He said such penalties would cause a "a massive transfer of Microsoft's intellectual property rights" to competitors, Gates said in his written testimony.

He said: "As I understand it, providing Microsoft's technology to its competitors so they can build 'functional equivalents' of our products now, and match all our future innovations for 10 years, is in fact one of the central objectives."

The states want US District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly to force Microsoft to create a modular version of Windows that could incorporate competitors' features.