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Technology Stocks : All About Sun Microsystems -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: JDN who wrote (11398)	10/23/1998 4:00:00 PM
From: cheryl williamson	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 64865

JDN, If there was any confusion about who said what to whom, and what they MEANT by saying it, there can be absolutely no confusion about the one feature of their contract that is abundantly clear: SUNW requires every Java licensee to pass a series of compatibility tests. You can modify all kinds of things & change the language to your hearts content, but you MUST pass their quals. Otherwise, you can't release the product without an IP violation. Period. This is standard operating procedure across the industry. MSFT failed the tests, so they have to fix their code & resubmit it just like everyone else. What makes them think that they don't have to pass the certification tests, anyway??

To: JDN who wrote (11398)	10/23/1998 4:25:00 PM
From: JC Jaros	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 64865

...not explaining what THEIR words meant. I am NOT an attorney but it seems to me that if in the past all these agreements SUNW made with others was pretty much boilerplate language and suddenly something NEW springs up in the contract which basically GIVES AWAY JAVA for no real consideration IS THAT NOT SOME KIND OF DEFENSE? I know that presently SUNW derives its income from HARDWARE not SOFTWARE but I am in this stock for the very long term and it is things like SMART CARD which attract me. JDN The record seems to indicate that Microsoft chose to 'pollute' Java AFTER they negotiated and signed the contract with JavaSoft. Yes, Sun allowed MSFT to insert exceptional language into their Java license, and It's a good bet that Sun regrets it. It doesn't seem to me even remotely reasonable that some technical 'gotcha' in the MSFT Java license did or will legally allow MSFT to leverage their monopoly and walk away with the Java standard. There's probably good indication of that from the preliminary injunction. BTW, regarding smart cards: With the DOJ breathing down VISA/MC's neck about possible antitrust in the delay of smart card adoption, it becomes all the more unlikely that card companies would license Crapware Java over actual (Sun) Java, even under the most favorable licensing terms, such as a gratis bundled VISA icon on the Windows desktop. JCJ