Microsoft does not violate Java contract, Ballmer says

Santa Clara, CA (10/09/97) — According to Steve Ballmer, senior executive vice president of Microsoft Corp., his company is not violating a Java licensing contract with Sun Microsystems Inc. that is at the heart of a lawsuit filed by Sun earlier this week.

“We are very faithfully following the contract,” Ballmer said at a meeting here today. “We have lots of lawyers that make sure we do.”

Ballmer said that if the case goes to trial it will be “sorted out,” but he declined to make predictions about whether the case will go into the courtroom or be settled out of court.

Sun has charged Microsoft with trademark infringement, false advertising, breach of contract, unfair competition, interference with prospective economic advantage, and inducing breach of contract. The company says that Microsoft breached its contractual obligation to deliver a compatible implementation of Java in its Internet Explorer 4.0 Web browser and Java Development Kit and is seeking an injunction to prevent Microsoft from improperly using the Java Compatible logo.

Ballmer said that part of the disagreement with Sun revolves around the Remote Method Invocation (RMI) specification, which allows Java objects to talk to each other across a network.

“We are not shipping that piece of code. We put it on our Web site, but we don’t see any reason to bundle it with our product or promote it,” he said.

Speaking at a breakfast meeting sponsored by the Churchill Club, a nonprofit organization that sponsors discussions on business and politics, Ballmer reiterated Microsoft’s stand that its Internet Explorer 4.0 offers the most competitive implementation of Java.

Microsoft and Sun do not have a common goal of promoting Java as a middleware operating system, he said. “Our goals are not aligned around that. They never have been.”

Ballmer addressed a variety of issues, taking questions from the audience of Silicon Valley insiders as well as a panel of journalists. On the topic of Apple Computer Inc., the Microsoft executive said that there are two approaches Apple can take to pull itself out of its current difficulties. “One way is to innovate themselves out of the situation. The other way is to invest more and to get more mileage from the Apple brand,” he said.

The Apple brand name is worth more than the company’s current market capitalization and ought to be applied to new and innovative products, he said. In response to a question, Ballmer also said that he has no interest in taking the CEO position at Apple.

Ballmer also said personally he would be sad if Apple were to disappear. “I care about the Mac,” he said.

Comments from the audience about Microsoft having a bad reputation in Silicon Valley caught Ballmer off-guard. He encouraged audience members to send him e-mail detailing problems they have with the company.

Ballmer said that Microsoft chairman and CEO Bill Gates’ personal wealth as well as on-and-off government investigations into the Redmond, Washington company’s business practices have tainted the company’s reputation.

“If we really understood why” such problems exist, Ballmer said, “we certainly would take some action because it is not good for us, not for our partners, not for our customers.”

Ballmer also predicted that, five years from now, PC penetration of the home market in the U.S. will be at 70 percent to 75 percent, up from the current level of 42 percent, provided price points for consumer PC’s continue to fall.