Sun Microsystems has applauded the decision by the European Commission to impose a record fine on Microsoft.

A statement from Lee Patch, vice president legal affairs at Sun, welcomed the ruling and described it as important and precedent-setting.

Patch believes that forcing Microsoft to make disclosures to improve interoperability will "create a level playing field in the work group server marketplace, enabling competitors to deliver work group servers that can fully interoperate and therefore compete on the merits. This is enormously significant for consumers and for the industry."

The company thinks the ruling will help set the principles of open competition "not just for today, but for the future of a vibrant and vital worldwide IT industry".

The full statement is here. ®

Related stories

MS gets EU fine, orders for server info and WMP-free Windows version
Windows ruling is biggest IP heist in EU history, claims MS
Microsoft, Sun, IBM and the war for government desktops
Commission statement
Sun Java site running sluggish on decaf