In one 1995 e-mail message, Gates wrote other Microsoft executives: ``I think there is a very powerful deal we can make with Netscape. If Netscape rejected Microsoft's deal, Barksdale testified, the Microsoft team told Netscape that it could expect the technical information to be delayed for three months. After declining Microsoft's offer, Netscape did not obtain the necessary information until three months later, which Barksdale says was ``precisely what Microsoft had threatened at the June 21 meeting''. Attempting to refute a central allegation in the government's antitrust case, Microsoft Corp. offering to stay out of its way and suggesting that Microsoft invest in Netscape.