Videotape of Microsoft chairman Bill Gates played yesterday at the government's antitrust trial against the software giant showed America's richest man avoiding questions about a 1996 e-mail he wrote on winning market share in the Internet browser market.

District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson was seen to shake his head and smile during the playing of the tape, part of Gates' pre-trial testimony recorded in late August.

The federal government and 20 states have charged that Microsoft competed illegally against rival Web browser-maker Netscape Communications Corp. in a bid to dominate the browser market.

On the tape, government lawyer David Boies asked Gates about an e-mail from January 5th, 1996, which he sent to other Microsoft executives. It began: "Winning Internet browser share is a very, very, important goal for us."In a tortuous examination, Boies then tried but failed to get Gates to say which specific firms Microsoft was competing against in trying to win browser share.