Microsoft did not break Java copyright

Microsoft has won an important round in its ongoing courtroom battle with Sun Microsystems over the Java programming language after a federal judge yesterday dismissed claims that the software giant had violated copyright laws.

Despite the ruling by US District Judge Ronald Whyte, who described the dispute as "purely contractual", Sun's breach-of-contract claims against Microsoft are still pending.

Whether or not the case will eventually go to trial also remains in the balance. A preliminary injunction against Microsoft preventing the company distributing its "polluted" version of Java in its products remains in force.

Jon Collins, a senior analyst at Bloor Research, said the development of Java has moved on and that the lawsuit has achieved its aim of preventing Microsoft from "polluting" Java.

Microsoft licensed Java from Sun in 1995 and has since built its own Java virtual machine. Sun said not only is the Microsoft Virtual Machine incompatible with Sun's version of Java, but it would mean developers would create Java programs that were tied to Windows.

This would defeat Sun's "write once, run anywhere" goal and violate the letter of the company's Java licensing agreement.

Sun sued Microsoft in October 1997, claiming contractual violation and breech of copyright infringement after the alleged creation of a Windows-only version of Sun's Java technology.