Software maker ordered to include Java programming

Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2003 | 9:33 a.m.

BALTIMORE -- Microsoft Corp. today was ordered to start shipping Windows software that includes rival Sun Microsystems Inc.'s Java programming language, setting the stage for an emergency appeal by the world's largest software maker.

U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz formally entered the injunction directing Microsoft to start including Java in the Windows operating system within 120 days. Motz ruled last month that the order was needed to help erase a competitive advantage Microsoft gained in illegally defending its Windows monopoly.

Sun argued it needed the injunction to prevent Microsoft from using its monopoly for personal computer operating software to gain control of the emerging market for Web services, which link PCs and handheld devices such as mobile phones to computer networks. Windows operates 95 percent of the world's personal computers.

Motz issued the injunction after Microsoft and Sun negotiated the formal terms of the order. It requires Microsoft to include Java in copies of Windows XP that also contain Microsoft's rival .Net Framework. The judge issued a 14-day stay of his order to give Microsoft time to file an emergency appeal with the 4th U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond.

Java is designed to let programmers write software to run on all types of computers.