Statement of the Lawsuit
Sun Microsystems Inc., Statement re: 4th Circuit Decision - June 26, 2003Today, the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed U.S. District Court Judge J. Frederick Motz's December 2002 ruling granting Sun Microsystems' preliminary injunction request for copyright infringement in Sun v. Microsoft. The Java-Must-Carry preliminary injunction was vacated and remanded. "We are extremely pleased with the Appellate Court's ruling today affirming the copyright infringement injunction. This decision confirms that Microsoft violated our prior settlement agreement, and that it did so in a way that continued to fragment the Java platform on PCs," said Lee Patch, vice president, legal affairs, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "While we are disappointed with the delay that results from the Court's determination to vacate and remand the Must Carry preliminary injunction, the Court accepted the District Court's determination that Microsoft engaged in anticompetitive acts. We look forward to a speedy trial and our opportunity to more fully address these and significant additional violations when we present our complete antitrust case against Microsoft." "This is an important victory for the Java community - it helps to ensure that only current, compatible Java technology will be distributed on PCs. In the years since it was introduced, Java technology has come to play a unique and vital role in computing. Java technology presents a remarkable opportunity for software developers on desktops, on devices and in server rooms - it has literally transformed the World Wide Web, running on everything, from smart cards to huge servers in complex data centers, and drawing them all together," said Rich Green, vice president, developer platforms, Sun Microsystems, Inc. "The value of Java technology in the marketplace has been confirmed by the hundreds of millions of devices that rely on it to deliver cutting edge content to end users. Java technology on the desktop is vital. In fact, PC OEMs have demonstrated how significant they find Java web content and applications by choosing to license and distribute the latest compatible Java technology directly from Sun. Consumers are demanding Java technology at the rate of millions of downloads a month. Every consumer who wants the most current, compatible, Java technology can get it now from Sun at http://java.com - no one should miss out on what Java technology has to offer." | |
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