>Microsoft told to hand over Windows code > > SEATTLE, July 29 (Reuters) - A federal judge has ordered >Microsoft Corp. to hand over source code to its Windows 95 and >other operating systems in a lawsuit being pressed by a small >Utah-based software company, officials said Wednesday. > Officials of the company, Caldera Inc, said the code would >help prove their claim that Microsoft had illegally restricted >the ability of its DR-DOS computer operating system to compete >in a market increasingly dominated by the Microsoft systems. > At the same time U.S. Magistrate Ron Boyce also ordered >Microsoft rival Novell Inc , which sold Caldera the >rights to DR-DOS, to hand over thousands of related documents >to Microsoft. > The source code, which is closely guarded by Microsoft as >some of its most valuable intellectual property, will be handed >over only to Caldera lawyers and outside experts and not to >Caldera executives. > Caldera Chief Executive Officer Bryan Sparks said the >source code, which includes programmer notes, could shed light >on the company's claim that Windows 95 was illegally tied to >Microsoft's version of the old DOS operating system and >squeezed DR-DOS out of the market. > Microsoft spokesman Jim Cullinan said the company always >had intended to hand over the relevant parts of the source code >demanded by Caldera. > "All we were looking for was protection for our >confidential information and our trade secrets," he said. "Once >that was in place we felt very comfortable about giving it >over." > Caldera, mostly owned by longtime Microsoft nemesis Ray >Noorda, sued Microsoft in July 1996, shortly after it acquired >the rights to the DR-DOS operating system from Novell, which >Noorda founded and ran until his retirement in 1994. > A trial in the case is scheduled for June 1999. > ((-- Seattle bureau 206-386-4848, [EMAIL PROTECTED])) > =============================== Kathy E. Gill, Guide - http://agriculture.miningco.com/ WWW design � writing � training - http://www.dotparagon.com/ Mac Advocacy - http://www.halcyon.com/kegill/mac/ "A different world cannot be built by indifferent people." ____________________________________________________________________ -------------------------------------------------------------------- Join The Web Consultants Association : Register on our web site Now Web Consultants Web Site : http://just4u.com/webconsultants If you lose the instructions All subscription/unsubscribing can be done directly from our website for all our lists. ---------------------------------------------------------------------
