In December, Motz concluded that Sun stood a good chance of winning its antitrust lawsuit against Microsoft and told both sides to craft a preliminary injunction, which he approved on 21 January. In his 11-page order, Motz gave Sun what it requested when it filed the lawsuit: an injunction ordering Microsoft immediately to stop distributing incompatible versions of Sun's Java interpreter and to begin shipping authorised versions with Windows and Internet Explorer in four months. Microsoft immediately appealed Motz's decision to the Fourth Circuit, calling it "extreme and unprecedented" and accusing Sun of violating a California law that prohibits unfair competition. On 4 February, a three-judge panel of the appeals court put Motz's injunction on hold until the panel could hear oral arguments -- which took place on 3 April -- and reach its own decision. Sun's case builds on a previous legal assault on its rival, which began in October 1997 and alleged that Microsoft violated its licence agreement by distributing incompatible versions of Java and deceptively promoting those versions as compatible. The two companies settled in January 2001, with Microsoft agreeing to pay Sun $20m (£12.02m) and inking a contract that governed how Microsoft could distribute Java. The Java language lets programs run without alterations on a variety of computers. Because a Java program can run, for instance, on a mainframe from IBM, a Unix server from Sun or a Windows PC from Dell Computer, it represents a possible threat to Microsoft's dominant Windows operating system. In an internal email dated September 1996, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates wrote that the Java platform "scares the hell out of me," because it's "still very unclear to me what our OS will offer to Java client applications code that will make them unique enough to preserve our market position." In the current lawsuit, Sun argues that Microsoft is now trying to supplement -- or even replace -- its Windows monopoly by encouraging developers to write code for the .Net platform instead of for Java. In addition, Sun says, "Microsoft has refused to port (its popular) Office (software) to competing platforms in order to illegally maintain its monopoly" and force consumers to purchase products such as Microsoft's Exchange Server, Internet Information Server and SQL Server.
What standards will drive the next wave of Web-based services, and how will they interact? Check out the latest developments on .Net, Java, Liberty Alliance, Passport and other technologies at ZDNet UK's Web Services News Section, including analysis, case studies and management issues.
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