South African companies appear to be largely unaffected by yesterday`s US Court of Appeals ruling overturning most of Judge Penfield Jackson`s decisions against Microsoft.
"Obviously we`re delighted with the decision," says Mark Hill, MD of Microsoft South Africa, "but I don`t think it affects us any more than any other of the Microsoft subsidiaries worldwide."
The US Court of Appeals yesterday overturned most of Judge Jackson`s previous rulings, saying he had tainted the proceedings with "improper" public comments that brought his impartiality into question.
However, the Attorney General`s office also claimed a victory from the proceedings, saying it welcomed the finding by the court that Microsoft had behaved illegally to maintain its monopoly over PC operating systems.
Hill says that for Microsoft South Africa, the "key takeout" is that the ruling asserts the company`s right to innovate and continue with its current plans. Hill did, however, say this is not the end of the process. "But we`re a lot closer to the end of that road."
Charles Webster, public relations manager of EDS South Africa, says the ruling is not conclusive and many of the real issues still have to be answered.
Webster says that while there is a chance some local companies had held off on installations of Microsoft products based on the previous ruling, he doesn`t think this highly possible. "This has dragged on so long that from a business point of view it wouldn`t have made sense to wait." Most companies, he says, are pragmatic about the situation, accepting that Microsoft is the de-facto standard.
Webster says that while there was a brief spike in local technology stocks after news of the ruling, this latest development is not the "salvation of the tech industry".
Related stories:
Appeals court overturns order to split Microsoft
Share
