The Hindu : Sun wins case against Microsoft

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Dec 25, 2002

Business

Business

Sun wins case against Microsoft

WASHINGTON DEC. 24. A federal judge ruled on Monday that Microsoft must include Sun Microsystems' Java programming language with the Windows operating system, handing Sun a major victory in its private antitrust case.

In granting a preliminary injunction sought by Sun, the judge forces Microsoft to confront what would be perhaps the most intrusive penalty yet to stem from court rulings that it broke federal antitrust laws.

The judge, J. Frederick Motz of the Federal District Court in Baltimore, also indicated that he would order Microsoft to stop shipping a version of Java that Sun contends damages the chances of its own version because it is outdated and creates confusion among programmers about which one to use for developing software.

"In the final analysis, the public interest in this case rests in assuring that free enterprise be genuinely free, untainted by the effects of antitrust violations,'' Mr. Motz wrote in his ruling.

Microsoft to appeal

Microsoft said it would appeal the ruling.

Sun's antitrust lawsuit, which also seeks at least $1 billion in damages, is one of several currently before Mr. Motz that have been filed in the wake of Microsoft's long-running antitrust battle with the federal government and a coalition of state attorneys general. Sun executives said the ruling would clear up confusion among software developers and spark innovation.

"There has been a cloud over much of what we do because of the fragmentation created by Microsoft,'' said Richard Green, vice president for developer products at Sun. "This alleviates all of that. It is an enormous win for Sun and other members of the Java community.''

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