Sun Exec Says Microsoft .NET a Monopoly Threat

(Reuters) - A Sun Microsystems Inc. executive told a federal judge Tuesday that archrival Microsoft Corp. could use its .NET Web-based services strategy to thwart competition and extend its monopoly power to the Internet.

Sun's chief strategy officer, Jonathan Schwartz, said that unless tough antitrust restrictions are imposed on Microsoft , it can use its Windows operating system monopoly and dominant Internet Explorer Web browser to promote .NET over competitors like Sun's Java programming language.

'Microsoft can exploit that control to bias and direct users to its services in preference to competitors' services,' Schwartz said in written testimony to U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly. The judge turned down a Microsoft request that she throw out Schwartz's testimony about Web services because it was based on predictions of future Microsoft behavior.

Kollar-Kotelly initially expressed concern about testimony at the remedy hearings that covers technology not raised at the original trial. But recently, she has been inclined to allow the material under the caution that she may ultimately decide it is not relevant. On Tuesday she quoted a Supreme Court ruling that 'drafting an antitrust decree involves predictions,' in turning down Microsoft.

Schwartz told the judge that Microsoft's 'track record' of obstructing Java, a cross-platform Internet programming language, and the Netscape Navigator browser demonstrated its ability to exercise this power. Schwartz was the 13th witness called by nine states seeking tough antitrust remedies against Microsoft for illegally maintaining its Windows monopoly.

The nine states have rejected a proposed settlement of the case reached between Microsoft and the U.S. Justice Department in November.

BITTER RIVALS

Sun, a fierce rival of Microsoft, has long accused the world's biggest software company of trying to sabotage Java. Sun Vice President Richard Green was the states' first witness at the remedy hearings. Microsoft, in turn, accuses Sun of promoting the government antitrust suit to gain a commercial advantage. Microsoft maintains Java is a product threatened by its own shortcomings rather than any anti-competitive behavior by Microsoft.

Spokesmen for Microsoft released a statement Tuesday saying the company 'has been a clear leader in Web services' and promotes 'competitive approaches' to them. The Microsoft spokesman said Sun is trying to slow down the .NET initiative because the company is 'late to the game on Web services.'

'The Internet is largely built on open standards, but Microsoft's control of the ubiquitous operating system combined with its ownership of the dominant browser and promotion of .NET Passport means that it could lock end users in to a Microsoft-controlled world,' Schwartz said.

The states want antitrust sanctions requiring Microsoft sell a cheaper, stripped-down version of Windows so that computer makers have a free-hand to customize the machines they sell. The states' remedy would be a boon to Sun in particular because it would require Microsoft to include Java in the Windows operating system.

Microsoft eliminated Java from Windows for the first time last year when it rolled out the new Windows XP operating system. Schwartz said the so-called 'must-carry' Java provision would ensure that computer users and developers have an alternative to Microsoft's .NET service. The states' proposed remedy also would ensure that Microsoft fully discloses information on .NET so that competitors's services can work well with it, he said.

Schwartz said the provisions in the Justice Department settlement were 'limited,' 'ineffective' and 'fundamentallyflawed.'

Microsoft contends remedies in the case cannot go beyond specific wrongdoing upheld by a federal appeals court last year, mainly that Microsoft tried to crush Netscape's Internet browser in an effort to preserve the Windows monopoly.

PASSPORT FEATURE

Schwartz reiterated complaints from other Microsoft competitors that the company is using the Passport security software in .NET to exclude potential competitors. The Passport service is designed to allow computer users to sign in once and then move among participating Web sites without doing so again.

Schwartz said Microsoft has been withholding information about the inner workings of Passport and other .NET software so that competitors cannot work well with servers that run on Microsoft software. The remedy hearing is expected to go at least through May. Kollar-Kotelly is still considering wether the proposed settlement of the case is in the public interest.

REUTERS