10/15/1997 — In the latest development in the lawsuit concerning Java licensing, both Sun Microsystems and Microsoft on Wednesday posted on their Web sites the mutual Java contract between the companies.Separately on Tuesday, Sun filed an amended complaint, which it posted to its Web site Wednesday. The amendment includes Sun’s claim for damages as a result of Microsoft’s unlawful distribution of Sun source code as a part of the beta version of Microsoft’s Software Development Kit (SDK) for Java. Sun is seeking damages of 5 million for the alleged breach by Microsoft.Sun filed suit against Microsoft on Oct. 6, claiming that Microsoft’s latest version of Internet Explorer is not fully compatible with Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.1. Sun says that Microsoft’s failure to support Java Native Interface and Remote Method Invocation prevents Microsoft from claiming JDK 1.1 compatibility or using the Java-compatible logo. Sun has also accused Microsoft of altering Java class libraries in a way that could limit Java’s promised cross-platform benefits, among other contract violations.Predictably, each company had its own interpretation of the complicated contract.“In order to achieve our goal in which software applications written using the Java environment can “run anywhere,” it is critical that each implementation remain compatible with the interfaces defined in a collaborative industry process led by Sun. That compatibility is confirmed through the compatibility test suite provided by Sun, which all 117 licensees are required to pass,” Sun said in a statement. On its Web site, Microsoft countered: “Sun has said many things, both to the press and in its complaint about the agreement and what it claims are Microsoft’s obligations under the agreement. In the complaint, Sun selectively revealed and paraphrased parts of the agreement. Given that Sun has been attempting to argue this case in the court of public opinion, it was important to make sure that the entire contract was revealed, not just the individual sections that Sun has already disclosed.”Microsoft also addressed two main sticking points in Sun’s contract, whether it was required to ship the Java Native Interface (JNI) and Remote Method Invocation (RMI) in Internet Explorer 4.0, which shipped Sept. 30.“JNI is a technology that postdates the agreement,” Internet platform and tools product manager Charles Fitzgerald said. “We have no obligation above and beyond JDK 1.0.2.” Microsoft claimed that it had no obligation to ship the technology and it is not specifically named in the contract. The company posted the RMI to its Web site for download on Sept. 30, separately from Explorer 4.0.Microsoft posted the contract and Q&A at https://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo/. Sun’s posting can be found at https://www.javasoft.com.Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash., can be reached at https://www.microsoft.com. Sun Microsystems Inc., in Mountain View, CA, can be reached at https://www.sun.com. Java