Something to keep in mind: the DoJ consent decree was 1994, and the lawsuit was filed in 1998.
This was right around the time that Microsoft’s monopoly power was under intense scrutiny.
In that environment, it makes sense for BG to push back against the notion that they could use their desktop OS market share into some kind of content market share.
If you notice he gets particularly vehement whenever someone asks if they can use their control of the OS (or tools or the browser) into control of the content.
He emphasizes that the distribution platform has to be neutral.
This was right around the time that Microsoft’s monopoly power was under intense scrutiny.
In that environment, it makes sense for BG to push back against the notion that they could use their desktop OS market share into some kind of content market share.
If you notice he gets particularly vehement whenever someone asks if they can use their control of the OS (or tools or the browser) into control of the content.
He emphasizes that the distribution platform has to be neutral.