SlashNOT

Matthew writes: The U.S. government stepped up the pressure in it’s efforts force Microsoft to become more open today, ordering the company to ship Java within 120 days or “face serious consequences.”

“We’re sick and tired of the delaying tactics, the lack of cooperation, and the deception coming from Redmond.” Said U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz.

Microsoft has been under pressure from the U.S. and a coalition of governments to provide more openness by sharing Windows code and by including Sun’s Java environment that allows programs to run on any platform.

“While we’re happy that Microsoft has agreed to allow widespread code inspection, they have not been forthcoming about declarations of unannounced security vulnerabilities known to them. Microsoft Update contains only declarations for vulnerabilities we knew about days or even weeks ago. Frankly, the odds of us finding security vulnerabilities without help from Microsoft computer scientists are slim. We need to get these computer scientists and their families out of Redmond and interview them in a safe location, and they should be offered employment with other companies if they feel that there will be retaliation from Microsoft when they return.”