Microsoft verdict won't affect Java case

The guilty verdict in the long running Microsoft antitrust case will have no effect on Sun's action against the software giant regarding Java, Sun chief financial officer Mike Lehman said today.

In an exclusive interview with vnunet.com, Lehman said that a State Court in California is considering motions on whether Microsoft breached its contract for licensing Java by changing some of the code so that it worked better under Windows.

An injunction has been issued against Microsoft preventing it from infringing Sun's Java copyright, but no trial date has yet been set. Sun has been embroiled in legal action against Microsoft regarding Java for a number of years.

Jon Collins, senior analyst at Bloor Research, said the development of Java has moved on and the lawsuit has achieved its aim of preventing Microsoft from polluting Java. However, he added that IBM and others will put pressure on Sun to open up Java. "Sun can only hang on to Java for so long," said Collins.

Sun is carefully reviewing Monday's ruling by US District Judge Thomas Penfield Jackson which concluded that Microsoft violated antitrust law by unlawfully tying its web browser to its operating system. But Lehman said the case was not connected to Sun's Java lawsuit.

Lehman said that there "must be teeth" in the remedies applied against Microsoft, including forcing the company to open up its APIs and address its "predatory pricing".

"Microsoft should be restricted from buying technologies and locking them into Windows. The proceeds of its ill-gotten gains, generated through its monopoly, should be given as cash dividends back to shareholders," said Lehman.

"I'd leave Microsoft with enough to pay the bills, but no more," Lehman added.