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Re: Sun sues Microsoft over Java (fwd)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Thu, 09 Oct 1997 05:26:55 -0700
From: James Evans <jimevans@ix.netcom.com>
> "Sun Sues Microsoft Over Java"
> by Elizabeth Corcoran
> Washington Post
> Wed. Oct 8, 1997
> C13,21
>
> <http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/WPlate/1997-10/08/059l-100897-idx.html>
Sun sued MS in the Northern District of CA (San Jose), and details from
Sun were sparse indeed regarding actual licensing violations.
Here's the article I wrote for the SF Daily Journal.
San Francisco Daily Journal
Oct. 8, 1997
By James Evans
The battle for software dominance over the Internet landed in court
Tuesday as Sun Microsystems, Inc. sued Microsoft Corp. for trademark
infringement, false advertising, breach of contract, unfair competition
and interfering with Sun's potential economic advantage.
The suit, Sun v. Microsoft, 97-20884, filed in the U.S. District
Court for the Northern District of California in San Jose, claims that
programs in Microsoft's new Internet Explorer 4 World Wide Web browser
that were created using Sun's Java language, are not compatible with all
computer operating systems.
Such compatibility, the suit claims, was an essential element in
the license agreement between the two software behemoths, and because
Microsoft breached that contract, it is illegally using the Java logo.
``We determined after extensive testing after [the Oct. 1] release
of Internet Explorer 4 that it didn't conform to specifications, so we
filed suit,'' said Michael Morris, Sun's general counsel.
``We have been negotiating with [Microsoft] over various issues for
six months,'' he said. ``We have been talking for a long time. On
several occasions we thought we had an agreement, but they would back
down and refuse to abide by the contract.''
Sun asked the court to prevent Microsoft from using the ``Java
Compatible'' logo, and from misleading Java programmers into believing
they are creating computer applications that can be operated on any
computer platform.
Sun said Microsoft was trying to undermine the credibility of the
Java language by presenting a crippled brand of Java applications that
run only on the Windows platform. Sun is touting Java as a
cross-platform standard for writing Internet programs.
The suit complained that tests of Internet Explorer 4 revealed that
applications written using Microsoft's Java development tools may not
function on other operating systems such as UNIX or the Apple Macintosh,
or in other browsers such as Netscape Corp.'s Navigator.
Nor, Sun alleged, do applications written using Sun's Java
Development Kit that function on UNIX, the Macintosh and Navigator run
on Internet Explorer 4.
In a press release announcing the suit, Sun said Windows users
instead may access Java applications by using Netscape Navigator, the
most widely used Web browser. Netscape, which is battling Microsoft for
dominance of the browser market, is a business partner of Sun.
But Microsoft, whose attorneys had not yet read the complaint, said
Sun's relationship with Netscape made it obvious that the civil justice
system was being used merely as a marketing strategy.
``The complaint is unfounded and completely outrageous,'' said Mark
Murray, Microsoft's corporate public relations manager. ``Sun is
looking to rein in the release of Internet Explorer 4 and raise
questions about the browser.
``Internet Explorer 4 is completely in compliance with the contract
agreement with Sun, and reviews have said that Internet Explorer 4 has
better Java implementation than Netscape,'' he said. ``It's very ironic
that Sun would urge people to get `pure' Java from Netscape, given that
Netscape's implementation is far less compatible, and much slower, than
Internet Explorer 4.
``We believe the evidence will show Microsoft has fully complied
with the contract with Sun, and that Sun has failed to live up to its
contractual obligation to Microsoft,'' Murray said, adding that Sun has
no contractual ability to diminish the distribution of the new browser.
He said Microsoft would fight the Sun suit, and a legal response
would be made after the company's lawyers read the complaint.
Rusty Day, a partner at Cooley Godward's Palo Alto office who
represents Sun in the action, said he wasn't surprised by Microsoft's
reaction, that the Seattle-based software giant had a very aggressive
public relations program.
``The fact is there's considerable merit to Sun's position,'' he
said. ``We wouldn't bring the suit if there wasn't.
``The two companies had been in discussions for six months, and
discussions broke off a week ago,'' Day said. ``It's unfortunate that
we have to do this, but that's the situation.''
***********
James Evans
San Francisco Daily Journal
90 N. 1st Street
Suite 100
San Jose, CA 95113-1223
408/287-4866 Voice
408/287-2544 Fax
james_evans@dailyjournal.com