Microsoft To Appeal Sun Injunction

Microsoft plans to appeal a federal injunction handed down Monday that will force the company to include Sun Microsystem's latest version of Java in Windows.

A Microsoft spokesman said the company is "disappointed" with its early review of the Court's decision.

"After our initial review, we do intend to appeal this injunction and will ask the Appeals Court to hear it on an expedited basis," he said.

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz handed down a preliminary injunction against Microsoft as part of a hearing that started on December 2. The ruling calls for Microsoft to begin offering the most current version on Sun's Java software in Windows operating systems, but details about delivery logistics and schedules are still to be worked out.

Lee Patch, Sun's vice president of strategic litigation, said during a conference call today that the Court has ordered Sun and Microsoft to hold meetings over the holiday period to determine recommendations for a distribution strategy.

However, Patch acknowledged he was unsure how a Microsoft appeal would factor into those plans.

Despite the imminent appeal, Sun officials hailed the ruling as a victory for software developers and computer users.

"The decision helps ensure that current, compatible Java technology will be included on every consumer desktop and put an end to Microsoft's practice of fragmenting the Java platform," said Rich Green, Sun vice president of developer tools.

Green believes Sun will see a significant boost in its Web services initiatives if Microsoft is required to include an updated version of Java in Windows. The current version of Java Microsoft makes available is "five or six years old," he said. "It's missing many of the features relative to end-to-end networking."

If Microsoft ships the current version of Java, rich with Web services features, he added, "Java will realize the largest volume over any other developer platform in the world."

Brad Murphy, senior vice president of strategic business development at Valtech, Raleigh, N.C., said the injunction is an indication that Sun has a better case than some may have initially thought. "The injunction is interesting because courts are generally conservative about these things," he said. "If Sun's case was weak it is unlikely they would get an injunction."

Should the injunction be upheld, the impact to solution providers would be significant, he said.

"It will have the effect of almost forcing Microsoft to more fairly or more objectively support non-vendor interoperability standards," he said.

Solution providers would be able to engineer solutions that don't have to be a "Microsoft-only" flavor, he added, giving customers the benefit of choice.

Patch said Sun is unsure when its antitrust trail against Microsoft would begin, although he said Sun expects it to be completed within two years. Sun first filed its private antitrust case against Microsoft on March 8 in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif.

The U.S. District Judge heard the heard arguments for the preliminary injunction in Baltimore, but the antitrust trail is expected to be held in San Jose, Calif.

Microsoft had no additional comments about the injunction at press time.