Volume I

Issue : 1: July 10, 2003

• The Dangers of Text Messaging
• Pop Up Purveyor Prevails in District Court
• Intel Loses Email Trespass Case on Appeal in California
• U.S. Court of Appeals Upholds Aimster Decision
• U.S. Federal Court of Appeal Reverses "Must Carry" Java Order Against Microsoft
• New York Court of Appeals Releases Key Decision in Telecommuting Case
• Quebec Court Upholds Websites Terms of Use Based on Implied Consent
• Adware Company Wins U.S. Summary Judgment Against U-Haul
• Government of Canada Wins Back Dot-Ca Domain Names in CDRP Proceeding
• Industry Canada Releases Authentication Consultation Report
• U.S. Supreme Court Upholds CIPA in Software Filtering Case
• U.S. Supreme Court Declines to Hear Two Key Cases
• Doctor Suspended Over Prescribing Medication For Customers of Online Pharmacies
• U.S. Court of Appeals Overturns Texas Online Wines Sales Law

Home > Volume I > Issue 1: July 10, 2003 > U.S. Federal Court of Appeal Reverses "Must Carry" Java Order Against Microsoft

U.S. Federal Court of Appeal Reverses "Must Carry" Java Order Against Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation obtained a victory on one of the many fronts in its continuing antitrust battles as a federal appeals court vacated an order requiring the company to distribute Sun Microsystems' Java software with the Windows PC operating system and Microsoft web browser. The unanimous decision of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals maintains the status quo which favors Microsoft and deals a blow to the distribution of Sun's Java.

Sun Microsystems, Inc. commenced this action against Microsoft alleging, among other things, that Microsoft illegally maintained a monopoly in the market for "Intel-compatible PC operating systems" and leveraged that monopoly into the market for "general purpose, Internet-enabled distributed computing platforms" in violation of the Sherman Act. Sun also complained that Microsoft infringed Sun's copyright by distributing Microsoft's Java-type software outside of a license that Microsoft received from Sun when settling earlier litigation.

In addition to an injunction prohibiting the copyright infringement, Sun obtained a "must-carry" preliminary injunction at the district court level requiring Microsoft to incorporate in and distribute, with every copy of its Windows PC operating system and its web browser, Sun's Java software to operate as "middleware" on top of Microsoft's operating system. While the copyright infringement prohibition was maintained by the appeal court, the unprecedented "must carry" provision was vacated.

Writing for the three-member panel, Judge Niemeyer stated that "[b]ecause the district court was unable to find immediate irreparable harm and because it entered a preliminary injunction that does not aid or protect the court's ability to enter final relief on Sun's PC operating systems monopolization claim, we vacate the mandatory preliminary injunction". 

For a copy of the decision (Court of Appeal), visit:

http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/031116.P.pdf