Paul Krill
Editor at Large

Sun to countersue Network Appliance

news
Oct 24, 20071 min

Sun Microsystems, responding to a lawsuit it faces from Network Appliance over Sun’s ZFS (Zettabyte File System), plans to countersue, Sun CEO Jonathan Schwartz said in his blog on Wednesday.

While stressing he has no interest in suing Network Appliance, Schwartz said Sun has no choice but to respond in court.

Later this week, Sun plans to request a permanent injunction to remove Network Appliance filer products from the marketplace and seek monetary damages. Half of these proceeds would be earmarked for efforts to promote free software and patent reform, with money going to the Software Freedom Law Center and the Peer to Patent initiative.

Network Appliance filed suit in September claiming ZFS violates the company’s patents. Previously, Sun said Network Appliance had been using some of its own technology acquired when Sun bought StorageTek. Sun demanded royalties from Network Appliance.

Network Appliance could not be immediately reached for a response to Sun’s plans on Wednesday afternoon.

Paul Krill

Paul Krill is editor at large at InfoWorld. Paul has been covering computer technology as a news and feature reporter for more than 35 years, including 30 years at InfoWorld. He has specialized in coverage of software development tools and technologies since the 1990s, and he continues to lead InfoWorld’s news coverage of software development platforms including Java and .NET and programming languages including JavaScript, TypeScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, Rust, and Go. Long trusted as a reporter who prioritizes accuracy, integrity, and the best interests of readers, Paul is sought out by technology companies and industry organizations who want to reach InfoWorld’s audience of software developers and other information technology professionals. Paul has won a “Best Technology News Coverage” award from IDG.

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