13. In an advertisement signed by Bill Gates, chairman of Microsoft Corporation, and his CEO, Steve Ballmer, the two men early in the year 2000 predicted that appellate courts considering a court order to break up their company “will reaffirm the well-established legal precedent that antitrust law should encourage—not discourage—firms to improve their products rapidly to meet customer needs.” Therefore, the antitrust decision against Microsoft should be overturned. Using Evidence. The following passages help illustrate correct and incorrect uses of evidence. For each passage, try to identify the primary weaknesses by applying the following criteria as discussed in this chapter.

Tests of Evidence. Apply each of the following tests to the passages:

Reliability Evidence should be drawn from sources that have proven to be correct many times in the past.

Expertise Evidence should be drawn from sources having a background of knowledge in relevant information.

Objectivity Evidence should be taken from sources who hold a fair and undistorted view on a question or issue.

Consistency Evidence should agree with other sources and should be consistent with itself.

Recency Evidence should be based on the most current information available.

Relevance The facts and evidence presented should be relevant to the claim that is made.

Access Evidence should be drawn from sources who have observed firsthand the matter being disputed.

Now, here is the evidence to be evaluated.