CNET News.com: IBM donates Net Communications Technology

“…The computing giant today said it has given away its communications software that allows businesses to link their
computing systems over the Net and conduct trades online.”

The software, called Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) for Java, is based on a Web standard for exchanging data called XML (Extensible Markup Language). The product is a working version of a communications technology developed by Microsoft, IBM, Lotus Development and others that could potentially become an Internet standard for linking Web-based software.

“The software, called Simple Object Access Protocol (SOAP) for Java, is based on a Web
standard for exchanging data called XML (Extensible Markup Language). The product is
a working version of a communications technology developed by Microsoft, IBM, Lotus
Development and others that could potentially become an Internet standard for linking
Web-based software.”

“Apache is a nonprofit group best known for creating a popular and widely used Web
server technology that delivers Web pages to browsers. Like the Linux operating system,
it is an “open-source” effort, allowing anyone to modify and redistribute the software.”