Sun's Private Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft To Begin

The hearing, which begins here Tuesday, is the first proceeding in the private antitrust suit Sun Microsystems filed against Microsoft last March.

Both sides will present opening arguments Tuesday, a Sun spokesperson said. Judge J. Frederick Motz will preside over the hearing, which is expected to conclude Thursday.

Sun is expected to present three witnesses in this week's hearing: Rich Green, a Sun vice president; Rick Ross, founder of the Java lobby; and Dennis Carlton, an economist. Microsoft is expected to present four witnesses, the spokeswoman said.

As part of its suit filed in March, Sun is seeking a preliminary injunction requiring Microsoft to include a JVM compatible with the latest edition of Java in XP. Microsoft said in July 2001 that it was pulling Java support from Windows XP, and instead would offer users a plug-in that was downloadable from Microsoft's site to enable Web pages using Java to work on the system.

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According to documents on Sun's Web site, Green is expected to testify that Microsoft is willfully trying to "undermine both the distribution channels for compatible Java platforms, and the demand for development of compatible Java-based platforms" by dropping support for Java in Windows XP.

Microsoft has defended its move to take Java support out of XP by citing a January 2001 settlement to a lawsuit Sun filed against Microsoft in 1997 over Microsoft's implementation of Java. That settlement agreement restricts what Microsoft could do in its implementation, Microsoft said.

Michael Morris, Sun's senior vice president and general counsel, has said the Java settlement between Microsoft and Sun in no way impeded Microsoft from including an updated JVM in the Windows XP OS.

Sun's private antitrust suit was filed March 8 in the U.S. District Court in San Jose, Calif. The suit seeks remedies for "the harm inflicted by Microsoft's anticompetitive behavior with respect to the Java platform and for damages resulting from Microsoft's illegal efforts to expand and maintain its monopoly power," according to Sun.

On Aug. 9, the Judicial Panel on Multidistrict Litigation, a panel that streamlines related cases filed in multiple districts, moved the pretrial proceedings of Sun's private antitrust case to the District of Maryland court in Baltimore. Once pretrial proceedings are over, the case will return to San Jose.