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Thursday, Jul. 30, 1998
Microsoft must show blueprints
Judge orders company to reveal Windows 95 code
By TED BRIDIS
Associated PressWASHINGTON -- Microsoft is under federal court order to surrender part of its blueprints for Windows 95 to a rival in Utah that filed an antitrust case largely paralleling the government's landmark lawsuit.
Under the order, Caldera Inc. can show the so-called ``source code'' for Windows 95 only to its lawyers and experts and can't develop commercial products based on it. Microsoft said it would turn over the software blueprints within five days.
U.S. Magistrate Ron Boyce also refused a request by Microsoft to prevent Caldera's experts from consulting on the design of any operating system software for up to 18 months.
``Who knows what they'll find when they look under the hood?'' asked James Love, director of the Washington-based Consumer Project on Technology, which has been monitoring the legal fight. Love, whose cousin works for Caldera, said the significance of the code ``depends on what they come up with.''
Microsoft said Tuesday's ruling involved only part of its Windows 95 code.
``It's a tiny fraction and can't be used (commercially) in any other way,'' Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said. ``The real argument wasn't giving them the information, just ensuring that protections were in place.''
Cullinan called the Windows 95 blueprints ``one of the most valuable pieces of our intellectual property.''
Caldera, based in Orem, Utah, is suing Microsoft in federal court in Salt Lake City for designing early Windows software that allegedly was deliberately incompatible with DR-DOS, an operating system that competed directly with Microsoft's own, similar product called MS-DOS.
Caldera also claims Microsoft intentionally mislead customers to believe that using Windows 95 replaced the need for computer users also to buy DR-DOS or MS-DOS. Prior versions of Windows ran explicitly as a supplement to the underlying operating system, whether consumers chose Microsoft's or Caldera's.
Microsoft contends that Windows 95 combined the functions of its previous versions of MS-DOS with Windows.
Under federal antitrust law, a company generally cannot require customers who buy one of its products also to buy another without some benefit to consumers. The practice is known as ``tying,'' a complaint at the core of the Justice Department's landmark antitrust case against Microsoft.
``Windows 95 is a walking antitrust violation,'' Caldera Chairman Bryan Sparks said Wednesday. ``It's just an illegal tie. . . . Our case is a landmark case -- we'll either win, or they'll slam the door shut once and for all.''
Caldera bought the rights to DR-DOS in July 1996 from Novell Inc., based in nearby Provo, Utah. Novell founder Ray Noorda, longtime personal rival to Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates, helped start Caldera in 1994 and remains a principal owner along with Sparks, a Novell engineer for eight years.
Caldera's trial is set to begin in June 1999 and last four weeks.Post your comments about local news eventsFront Page || Main Index || News || Business || Texas || South Texas Outdoors || Birdwatching || Sports || Entertainment || Selena || Education || South Texas Attractions || World Wide Web