Mr Bill Gates, founder and chief executive of Microsoft, yesterday praised US antitrust laws and offered only muted criticism of the government, in spite of its prosecution of his company.

In a reversal of his strident attacks on antitrust officials, he told members of Congress that the success of the US high technology industry depended on "the light hand of government".

Mr Gates has accused the US government of attacking his company, claiming in December that the Justice Department's leading lawyer was "really out to destroy Microsoft".

But speaking before the joint economic committee's high-tech summit yesterday, Mr Gates only made an oblique reference to his company's trial defence. He claimed the high-tech industry had flourished in the US because companies were free to integrate new features into their products.

In court, the US government claims Microsoft integrated Internet software into its best-selling Windows operating system to crush competition and extend its monopoly into new markets.

Mr Gates said: "The framework we have in the US encourages competition but allows companies to enhance their products. That kind of freedom has been upheld again and again, whether it is for large companies or small companies.

"So I feel the framework we have today is a very good framework and we can see the good results that come out of that. Certainly everything that has gone on in the technology industry has come about because integrating new features is one of the freedoms that all companies have."