[Linux-bruxelles] NYTimes.com Article: Microsoft Asks Court to Lift Injunction Over Sun Software

[philippehelyn at skynet.be]

This article from NYTimes.com 
has been sent to you by philippehelyn at skynet.be.


Ont-"ils" vraiment peur de tout ce qui ne sort pas de chez "eux" ???
:-)

philippehelyn at skynet.be


Microsoft Asks Court to Lift Injunction Over Sun Software

April 4, 2003
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS 




 

RICHMOND, Va., April 3 - Lawyers for Microsoft asked a
federal appeals court today to lift a lower court's
injunction requiring it to include a competitor's product
in its Windows operating system. 

David Tulchin, a lawyer for Microsoft, said the lower
court's order to distribute the Java software of Sun
Microsystems with its own package was "unprecedented and
extraordinary." It should not have been granted, Mr.
Tulchin argued, because of an "absolute absence of any
showing of imminent irreparable harm" to Sun if Microsoft
did not distribute its software. 

A lawyer for Sun, Lloyd R. Day, countered that while he
disagreed that the injunction was unprecedented, he agreed
that it "is an extraordinary case because of Microsoft's
anticompetitive conduct, and extraordinary cases require
extraordinary remedies." 

The arguments were made before the United States Court of
Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Microsoft's appeal of a
preliminary injunction issued in December by a federal
district judge in Baltimore. 

The injunction requires the company, which is based in
Redmond, Wash., to include Java technology in its Windows
XP operating system until the district court can rule on a
lawsuit filed by Sun accusing Microsoft of anticompetitive
practices. 

Java software helps create interactive programs on Web
sites that users can run regardless of the operating system
or Web browser used. Microsoft is introducing a similar
product, which it calls Microsoft .NET. Sun contends that
Microsoft's marketing prowess will allow it to dominate the
market rapidly unless the courts intervene. 

Sun's case is one of four private antitrust lawsuits that
came after another federal judge's ruling in a lawsuit
filed by the Justice Department and 18 states. That court
found that Microsoft acted as an illegal monopoly based on
its dominance in desktop operating systems. 

Sun, based in Santa Clara, Calif., asserts that Microsoft
engaged in "anticompetitive acts against the Java platform
and Sun with the purpose and effect of maintaining its
monopoly over Intel-compatible PC operating systems,"
according to a motion filed previously with the appeals
court. 

The three-judge panel that heard the companies' arguments
today did not indicate when it would rule on Microsoft's
appeal. 

Microsoft shares were up 1 cent, to close at $25.73, on the
Nasdaq, where Sun's stock fell 1 cent, to $3.48. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/04/technology/04SOFT.html?ex=1050489410&ei=1&en=7bde61a2f60f7bc0



HOW TO ADVERTISE
---------------------------------
For information on advertising in e-mail newsletters 
or other creative advertising opportunities with The 
New York Times on the Web, please contact
onlinesales at nytimes.com or visit our online media 
kit at http://www.nytimes.com/adinfo

For general information about NYTimes.com, write to 
help at nytimes.com.  

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company