How might the April 2004 settlement between Microsoft and Sun affect my business?
Microsoft and Sun resolved earlier litigation with a settlement agreement in January 2001. The 2001 settlement agreement contemplated the phase-out of the MSJVM, including end of support. The only change to the phase-out contemplated by the 2001 settlement agreement is the extension of the date of end of support for the MSJVM, to December 31, 2007.The MSJVM is on many desktops and servers because it was included in some versions of Internet Explorer, a component of Windows. In addition, some products use the MSJVM in custom Java applications for clients or servers, as well as Java applets. These may be business-to-business or business-to-consumer applications and Web sites. To work properly they require the MSJVM or another vendor’s Java virtual machine to reside on the computer. Customers are encouraged to identify and eliminate any dependencies on the MSJVM before support ends on December 31, 2007. Microsoft and Sun resolved earlier litigation with a settlement agreement in January 2
