Sun files opposition to Microsoft appeal in Java case

IDG News Service - Sun Microsystems Inc. made a filing to a federal appeals court yesterday laying out its objections to Microsoft Corp.'s request for more time to include Java technology in Windows operating systems.
Sun presented the U.S. Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Va., with a 25-page document citing reasons why Microsoft should ship Java technology with Windows as soon as possible. Earlier this month, a lower court gave Microsoft 120 days from Feb. 4 to begin including Java with Windows (see story). Microsoft subsequently appealed that decision (see story), asking for more time, which led to yesterday's response from Sun.
In the appeal, Microsoft had claimed that Sun didn't face any "imminent irreparable harm" if Microsoft didn't include Java in Windows. Sun argued that the inclusion of Java with Windows is a time-sensitive issue and that further delays could be harmful to the company and its technology.
Sun said in the filing that "the district court explicitly found that Sun is threatened with irreparable harm and that its requested relief is urgently needed now."
The ongoing legal row between the two companies over Java heated up in December when U.S. District Judge Frederick Motz ordered Microsoft to ship Java with Windows.
Sun argued that Microsoft hasn't shown solid reasons why it would take longer than 120 days to ship the Java Runtime Environment with Windows. Microsoft claimed that it would take an enormous amount of engineering resources to include Java and that the technology would adversely affect the quality of Microsoft software.
Sun invented its Java technology in the mid-1990s and then promoted it with the hope that Java programs could run on a variety of operating systems with little alteration to the underlying code. Microsoft has since come up with its own technology, called .Net, that competes with Java.