Judge Rules Against Microsoft In Java Lawsuit
(11/17/98, 8:35 p.m. ET)
By Reuters
In a stinging defeat for Microsoft, a federal judge Tuesday backed
technology claims by Sun Microsystems and gave the software company 90 days
to modify the Windows 98 operating system or pull it from the market.

U.S. District Judge Ronald Whyte said Sun was "likely to prevail on the
merits" of its lawsuit over the Java programming language and issued a
preliminary injunction that would bar Microsoft from selling products that
use the technology.

Whyte's order bars the sale of any Microsoft products that use Java --
including Windows 98 and the Internet Explorer 4.0 browser -- beginning in
90 days unless Microsoft modifies the software to comply with Sun
compatibility tests. The order does not affect software that already has
been shipped.

For Sun, one of Microsoft's fiercest rivals, the ruling was a sweet victory
in the battle over control of Java, an increasingly popular platform for
software developers that once was seen as a threat to the hegemony of
Windows on the computer desktop.

While the highly technical lawsuit has taken a back seat to the landmark
antitrust case against Microsoft unfolding in Washington, D.C., the ruling
could reinvigorate Sun's efforts to promote Java for developers to write
software that runs on a variety of systems and not just Windows.

And government lawyers, who have called a Sun vice president to testify in
the antitrust case, contend Microsoft's efforts to undermine Java are part
of a pattern of anti-competitive behavior.

Alan Baratz, president of Sun's Java Software unit, said the company would
continue to deliver products "that give developers and users the choice to
replace Microsoft's polluted technology with Sun's compatible Java
technology."

Sun sued Microsoft in 1997 charging that the Redmond, Wash.-based software
company violated its 1996 agreement to license Java by introducing variants
in its own software and developer tools that failed to meet Sun's
compatibility tests.


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"We believe Sun's legal strategy is shortsighted and is trying to deny
customers and developers the choice of the best Java implementation in the
marketplace."
-- Jim Cullinan
Microsoft

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Sun contended Microsoft was intentionally trying to undermine Java's
vaunted "write once, run anywhere" promise by establishing conflicting
versions of the language and forcing developers to make a choice.

In a cry that echoed its defense against antitrust charges, Microsoft
contended Sun was trying to prevent "innovation" and said even Sun's own
implementation of the technology failed to meet compatibility requirements.

Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said the company was disappointed by the
ruling but would "take the necessary steps to comply."

"We believe Sun's legal strategy is shortsighted and is trying to deny
customers and developers the choice of the best Java implementation in the
marketplace," Cullinan said.


From MAILER-DAEMON@cs.depaul.edu Wed Nov 18 09:29:18 1998