Focus at Microsoft trial switches to Java

November 30, 1998 — The US government in its antitrust case against Microsoft will call Java creator James Gosling to the witness stand this week, shifting the focus of the trial to Microsoft’s alleged misuse of Sun Microsystems’s programming language, sources close to the case said.

Gosling, a Sun fellow and vice president, could take the stand as early as Tuesday, the sources said.

Microsoft must first complete its cross-examination of government witness Frederick Warren-Boulton, an economist, after which the US Department of Justice will spend about an hour with its “redirect” questions to Warren-Boulton, one of the sources said.

The antitrust lawsuit filed by the Justice Department and 20 states alleges in part that Microsoft illegally used the power of its Windows operating system to undermine Java’s potential. Java can be used to write software programs that run on any operating system, and Microsoft saw that cross-platform capability as a threat to the widespread use of Windows, according to the lawsuit.

In building up its case against the software giant, the Justice Department has yet to hone in on its accusations of Microsoft’s alleged misuse of Java. But when Gosling takes the stand the government will likely spell out the Java portion of its complaint in detail, the sources said.

Gosling has also been a witness in a separate, private lawsuit Sun brought against Microsoft in a California district court. Gosling offered testimony for that case in September, relaying how Java technology works, why Microsoft supposedly saw it as a threat to its operating system, and how Microsoft allegedly implemented a “polluted” version of Java in its products in a bid to derail Sun’s efforts.

Two weeks ago Sun was granted a preliminary injunction in that case, which forced Microsoft to make changes to its Java products to bring them in line with Sun’s compatibility tests.

A Microsoft spokesman last week downplayed that order, calling it a “narrow, technical” ruling that will have no bearing on the government’s antitrust case in Washington. However, the government has subpoenaed evidence gathered in Sun’s private lawsuit, and has indicated that it intends to use that evidence to help bolster its case in Washington.

Gosling has submitted 30 pages of written testimony to the court, which will be released before he takes the stand, said Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona.

Meanwhile, Microsoft last week said it plans to file a motion to have the government’s case dismissed once the government has called all its witnesses. The motion will be based only in part on the proposed merger announced last week between America Online and Netscape, said Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan.

“All the witnesses that already have spoken right now show that this case can be dismissed based on the facts already presented. The new deal [between Netscape and AOL] was just one component of why we would be filing this motion,” Cullinan said.