In "Redmond Justice" news, everything old is new again as maverick government attorney David Boies (cue boyish glance at camera and sparkle off of teeth) continues to rip Microsoft's defense witnesses into shreds of organic material identifiable as formerly human only via expensive and time-consuming DNA tests. Dental records show his latest victim to have been Microsoft exec Dan Rosen, the highest-ranking Redmond rep present at the notorious "Don't Screw With Us" meeting of June 21st, 1995. The government alleges that at this meeting, Microsoft threatened Netscape with oblivion if they didn't concede the web browser market for computers running Windows 95, slotted for release a few months later. Rosen tried to paint the meeting in a positive light, but according to a Reuters article, Boies soon left Rosen's credibility in tatters.

Rosen's big trip-up centered around the first time he had access to Netscape's version of the Navigator web browser for Windows 95. When questioned by Boies, he claimed that it was first made available to him in "July 1995... after the June 21st meeting." At that point, Boies confronted Rosen with email he had written to a fellow employee, which included the question, "Can I borrow/copy the Netscape Win 95 new client they gave us?" That email was dated May 11th. Oops. But Rosen claimed that he had never actually received a copy of the browser he requested, and in addition, it was only a "test version that did not work," which his colleague had gotten at a prior meeting with Netscape. Fair enough. Except that Boies point-blank accused Rosen of making up that detail on the spot. "No, I remember it," insisted Rosen. "You're sure it was May and not April?" asked Boies. Rosen answered in the affirmative-- at which point Boies confronted him with yet more Rosen-penned email, in which he wrote: "Do you remember who took the Netscape Win 95 browser they gave us during our last meeting?" This email was dated April 27th. Big oops.

After a "moment of silence in the courtroom" as Rosen mulled this over, he conceded that, yes, he had been present at the meeting with Netscape in April when the browser was handed over. And after that we have to imagine that his continued denial that Microsoft ever threatened Netscape holds a lot less credibility. Score another one for Boies, in a trial that's starting to look like a shutout. But it sure makes for great TV, doesn't it?