Sun Accuses Microsoft of Violating Java Pact
Escalating a simmering feud over the promising software technology known as Java, Sun Microsystems Inc. filed a suit Tuesday accusing Microsoft Corp. of trying to undermine the increasingly popular computer language.
The suit marks the first legal strike over Java in a long-standing struggle between two of the high-tech industry’s fiercest rivals and centers on Microsoft’s compliance with terms of its agreement to license Java technology from Sun.
“They’ve been measuring each other for a while now,” said Daniel Kunstler, an analyst at J.P. Morgan Securities in San Francisco. “Microsoft was making a calculation in pushing Sun to see how far they could go. Now we’ve crossed that threshold.”
Sun created Java as a language with a unique ability to enable computer programs to run on any operating system. That has come to represent a substantial threat to Microsoft, whose crown jewel is its Windows operating system that runs 90% of the world’s computers.
Increasingly annoyed at the Java challenge, Microsoft has sought to blunt its growing popularity by denigrating its performance and creating its own blend of Java technology that developers can use to write programs that run only on the Windows platform.
Sun has gone to great lengths to thwart Microsoft’s efforts, using a range of tactics including a high-profile ad campaign touting the merits of “100% Pure Java.”
Sun’s suit is the latest maneuver by the Mountain View-based company. Filed in U.S. District Court in San Jose, the suit accuses Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft of breach of contract, unfair competition and false advertising.
The allegations hinge on claims that Microsoft’s latest Internet Explorer Web browser and other products don’t adhere to Java specifications set by Sun.
“What Microsoft has done is deliver a technology which some might think is Java but only works on Microsoft products,” said Alan Baratz, president of Sun’s JavaSoft division. “Microsoft views Java as the first real threat to their monopoly. The easiest way to undermine that is to fragment the platform and deliver another version that confuses software developers.”
Sun is seeking unspecified damages, as well as an injunction barring Microsoft from using the Java logo on its products.
Microsoft executives denied the allegations and said the company has no plans to stop shipping products that use Java technology and the Java logo.
“We believe this lawsuit is outrageous and that we are in total compliance with our contract with Sun,” said Cornelius Willis, director of platform marketing at Microsoft.
Willis acknowledged, however, that Microsoft has fundamental problems with the way Sun is positioning Java. He said Microsoft will not support Sun’s efforts to move Java beyond a programming language into a software platform that competes with Windows.
“We don’t think write-once, run-anywhere works,” Willis said, referring to a line Sun often uses to promote Java. “We have better implementations for the same technology.”
The feud has become unusually pointed in recent months, as top executives at both companies have traded barbs. Scott McNealy, chief executive at Sun, often calls Microsoft’s programs “hairballs” from a bygone computer age. He has been a proponent of cheaper, stripped-down computers that would run Java applications downloaded over a network.
Microsoft Chief Executive Bill Gates took several swipes at Java just last week during a speech he delivered at a San Francisco trade show. Asked why he barely mentioned Java during his hourlong presentation, he replied: “I didn’t mention C++ or Visual Basic or Cobol either.”
Sun’s Baratz said Microsoft is the only company among 117 Java licensees that is considered out of compliance.
He said that Netscape Communications Corp.’s Internet browser is not compatible with the latest Java specifications either. “But Netscape never claimed to be,” he said. “And they are fully committed to be compliant for their next major release.”
Analysts said that for all the bluster, Tuesday’s exchange between Sun and Microsoft did little actual damage to either company. Both companies seem reluctant to risk a broader rift, and Sun, in particular, refused to say whether the company would ultimately seek to revoke Microsoft’s license.
“They both have an immense amount to lose,” said Kimball Brown, an analyst at Dataquest in San Jose. “What they’re doing is firing cannonballs at each other and intentionally missing.”
Shares of Microsoft closed at $136.50, up $1.38, and Sun Microsystems closed at $46.44, down 13 cents. Both trade on Nasdaq.
