Nine states still pursuing an antitrust case against Microsoft Corp. will call executives from Palm Inc. and Gateway Inc. to testify in court hearings to help make their case for severe sanctions against the company, according to a court filing this week. The states, who have refused to sign on to a settlement between Microsoft and the U.S. Justice Department, listed executives from the two companies among more than a dozen witnesses they plan to call during hearings set to begin on Aug. 11 on what sanctions should be imposed on Microsoft, according to pre-trial statements filed with U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly.

Anthony Fama, a group counsel for Gateway, will testify "that the states' proposed remedy is necessary to prevent Microsoft from continuing to favor personal computer manufacturers who support Microsoft's products, to the disadvantage of personal computer manufacturers who do not," the dissenting states said in their court filing Friday. Fama "will testify that Microsoft's Proposed Remedy does not prohibit this behavior," the states said. In addition, Michael Mace, Chief Competitive Officer of Palm, will testify that Microsoft "has attempted to block Palm's development through anti-competitive actions such as blocking access to Microsoft's development tools," the dissenting states said.