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WASHINGTON -- A U.S. federal appeals court has stayed a judge's order requiring Microsoft to ship Sun's Java technology with its Windows operating system and other products.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Monday halted an order that would have gone into effect Tuesday. Microsoft was required to offer Sun's Java Runtime Environment with Windows XP and Internet Explorer. The appeals court ruling ran about two pages and offered little explanation for the stay, according to a Sun representative.

Back to Court

It delays pending action by the appeals court, a December 23 order by U.S. District Court Judge Frederick Motz, who is presiding over a number of private antitrust lawsuits against Microsoft, including one filed by Sun. Motz set the clock ticking on the "must-carry" Java order in a ruling January 21, when he gave Microsoft 120 days to comply.

Sun has argued that Microsoft tried to derail a competitive threat posed by Java by offering a version of the technology that is incompatible with Sun's specifications. Its lawyers argued before Motz that Microsoft's behavior, if allowed to continue, would unfairly drive developers to Microsoft's competing .Net platform.

"We regret the Fourth Circuit Court's decision," said Lee Patch, vice president for legal affairs at Sun, in a statement. "The preliminary injunctions granted by the District Court will benefit consumers and...the Java Community's developers, enterprises and system vendors. We will work actively to ensure that the earliest possible date is set for the appellate hearing. We look forward to demonstrating the merits of District Court's decision when the appeal is heard."

Microsoft Changes Plan

Microsoft had said earlier Monday that it was taking steps to comply with Motz's order, by replacing the Windows XP SP1 service pack with a new one, XP SP1a. It said the upgrade would be identical to the previous service pack but exclude Microsoft's Java Virtual Machine. It said it would have included Sun's Java software in Windows XP in early June 2003 starting with Service Pack 1b.

Those plans are now on hold pending further appeals court action, Jim Desler, Microsoft spokesperson, said later on Monday.

"I believe that everything will be on hold until we hear from the court and the conclusion of the appeals process," Desler said. "We're pleased the court granted our motion, but the work that we did up to this point revealed that we were complying fully with the district court order."

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