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Microsoft appeals Java injunction

Claims judge made technical errors in granting it

Microsoft has filed an appeal against the injunction granted against it in Sun's favour in November. In its filing today the company says that Judge Ronald White misapplied the law in granting the injunction. In court Microsoft had been arguing that its licensing agreement with Sun gave it the right to modify Java. Sun argued that Microsoft was in breach of its licence, and the judge came down on Sun's side on 17th November. Microsoft's initial response was to start shipping Sun code as well as its own, and give users the choice of which one they used. But it wasn't as simple as that. Last month Microsoft asked for clarification of the terms of the injunction (Earlier story), and there was the small matter of passing Sun's Java compliance tests. If the route Microsoft was taking in December was clearly in compliance with the terms of the injunction then Microsoft was in the clear, but it seems certain that this approach didn't go far enough. If Microsoft hadn't appealed, it would therefore have needed to perform more seriously radical surgery to its Java strategy within the 90 days the injunction allowed, i.e. by mid-February. The company is currently appealing on the basis that Judge White was applying copyright law when he should have been applying contract law, and that Sun did not show Microsoft wilfully violated the agreement. ® Complete Register trial coverage

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