Members of the Web Services Interoperability (WS-I) organization have approved a proposal expanding its board by two seats, potentially opening the door to Sun Microsystems Inc.

Nominations for election will be accepted between January 1 and February 15, with election itself scheduled for March.

Sun is holding-out for board-level membership in an attempt to influence WS-I direction and policy. Executives believe it is inconceivable that Sun - the inventor of Java - should be absent from a body that wishes to drive interoperability of web services.

Santa Clara, California-based Sun was left out from WS-I's original line-up, whose 51 members included IBM, BEA, Microsoft and Hewlett Packard Co. While Sun cried foul, evidence in Microsoft's ongoing anti-trust case suggested the company was excluded through the political posturing of long-time rival Microsoft.

Sun is not a shoo-in, though, as at least 12-other vendors have expressed their interest in a seat on the WS-I's board. Microsoft, meanwhile, resisted expansion until relatively recently.

Neil Charney, director of Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft's .NET platforms strategy group, told ComputerWire in May that Java was already represented on the board by companies like San Jose, California-based BEA Systems Inc.

Sun has been offered the support of at least one WS-I member - IBM, who originally proposed expansion. A company spokesperson told ComputerWire in May, IBM would vote for Sun.

© ComputerWire