Microsoft kneecapping Sun, says judge

A US judge has compared Microsoft's treatment of Sun Microsystems to figure skater Tonya Harding's 1994 kneecapping attack on rival Nancy Kerrigan.

According to Associated Press reports US District Judge Frederick Motz, who is overseeing Sun's request for antitrust damages against Microsoft, surprised everyone by making the comparison.

Motz also compared Microsoft's conduct to a crooked baseball game in which one team uses a camera in centrefield to steal signals from its opponent.

Sun wants to order Microsoft to carry Java in Windows. Its lawyers said that the company faced "imminent harm" and would not be able to remain competitive in a market dominated by Microsoft.

Sun said Microsoft was "mugging its principal competitor".

But Microsoft argued that Sun's lawyers had "terribly muddled" the issues and had misstated the law.