A dispute has arisen between the Advanced Technology Group of Williams Telecommunications (WilTel) and NeXT over use of technology involved in distributed-object development.
"We are having discussions on software-ownership issues, and we're working toward an amicable resolution. Our aim is to have a win-win for both companies," said Dominique Trempont, NeXT CFO.
A spokesman for WilTel said that because it was "a matter that's in litigation, we can't comment."
According to sources, the dispute arose when the WilTel group, which has used NEXTSTEP over the past two years to develop an Asynchronous Network Transfer (ATM) mode network and administration tools, wanted to distribute its "remote object facility" on the Net as a competing standard to NeXT's work in distributed objects. Both systems allow software to be easily developed and integrated across a large network of users.
WilTel developed its system ahead of NeXT's but had signed nondisclosure agreements, one source said. NeXT's announced spec for Portable Distributed Objects is different from WilTel's remote object facility.
"The ATM system won't plug into or share objects with applications built outside the ATM network. [WilTel] will be an island in a sea of distributed objects," a source said.