WASHINGTON — The coffee and pastries were provided by America Online Inc. But some of the attendees at the first public deposition in the Microsoft Corp. antitrust case didn’t see the sign on the buffet table indicating their benefactor, and they worried that they might be noshing on some spread meant for conventioneers at the Washington, D.C., Marriott, where the Ninth Policy Forum of the Digestive Disease National Coalition was also taking place.
As one of the rare depositions open to the public, there was nothing ordinary about the April 27 proceeding, although no one expected startling revelations from the man to be questioned — Peter L.S. Currie, Netscape Communications Corp.’s CFO when the company agreed to be bought by AOL last November.
