I found this:
The MapInfo dataset format, which comprises a group of related files, is developed and regulated as a proprietary GIS dataset format used in MapInfo products. MapInfo's component .DAT file is a dBASE Table File in dBase (III, IV, or V) format which is well documented. As of August 2011, the MapInfo products are maintained and distributed by Pitney Bowes Business Insight.
source: http://www.digitalpreservation.gov/formats/fdd/fdd000324.shtml
You can probably read that file using this library: http://dans-dbf-lib.sourceforge.net/
Alternatively, if you want to read your converted shape files with java, GeoTools is a pretty good library for doing it: http://www.geotools.org/ The tutorial contains examples of reading shape files.