Sun seeks injunction barring incompatible versions of Java in Windows 98

May 12, 1998 — Sun Microsystems has asked a federal court to prevent Microsoft from shipping an incompatible version of Java with Windows 98 and its Visual Java ++ development tool.

“We are not trying to prevent them from shipping Windows 98,” said Alan Baratz, president of Sun Microsystems’ Java Software division. “We are asking them to ship a compatible Java virtual machine (JVM) in Windows 98.”

“It’s clear that Microsoft is unable to stop the momentum of Java through fair competition,” Baratz said.

Sun is asking the court to force Microsoft to either include a compatible JVM in the OS, or include Sun’s own JVM on the CD, or remove any incompatible versions from Windows 98. Sun also is seeking to prevent Microsoft from shipping its Visual Java ++ development tool with any incompatible version of Java, according to officials.

Furthermore, Sun alleged that Microsoft has not only made changes to the compiler but has amended the Java language by adding “key words” — a more serious problem for Microsoft, according to analysts.

“It’s okay to have variations in the Java platform,” said John Rymer, director of Upstream Consulting, in Emeryville, CA. “But it’s not really okay to make changes to the Java language. This will fragment the language.”

Microsoft officials dismissed Sun’s suit as a politically motivated stunt, saying that Sun wanted to — in the words of Microsoft general counsel Tom Burt — “get involved in creating Microsoft’s product.”

Officials at the Redmond-WA company also refuted a claim by Sun officials that it is requiring licensees to use only the Microsoft version of the Java virtual machine.

“We encourage parties developing products for our platform to make sure they run on our platform,” Burt said. “That does not prevent those developers from writing that same application to run on other virtual machines or other platforms. There’s absolutely nothing exclusive about (the contracts) at all.”

Microsoft plans to ship Windows 98 to PC makers on Friday, May 15, with a general release set for June 25. Microsoft officials have in the past denied that the company will be making any changes to the language — for example in pointers or bytecodes.

Sun is alleging that Microsoft is deliberately violating the licensing agreement with Sun in an attempt to break the cross-platform compatibility.

Microsoft denied Sun’s right to seek an injunction in the first place.

“Our contract has a specific provision that says there is no injunctive relief. Sun can’t enjoin Microsoft to stop shipping its products,” said Tod Nielsen, general manager of product relations at Microsoft.

But Sun officials refute that argument, saying the court has ruled in favor of providing injunctive relief in the past .

The suit, to be filed in Federal District Court in San Jose, CA, this week, will be part of the ongoing lawsuit Sun filed last year accusing Microsoft of violating its contract over the licensing of Java.

“This appears to be more of a political ploy by Sun rather than a substantive effort on their part. It looks like they are trying to cash in on all of the speculation surrounding the release of Windows 98 and possible government action,” said Microsoft spokesman Mark Murray, who added that he doubted the court would hear the preliminary injunction until July.

While he would not comment on any negotiations between Microsoft and the U.S. Department of Justice or individual states, Murray said he believed the government has yet to make a decision on what course of legal action it will pursue.

“We continue to work very closely with [the Department of Justice] and the states. We are optimistic we will be able to resolve these issues without the need for a lawsuit and be able to demonstrate Microsoft is competing in a fair and legal manner,” Murray said.