[Golden Eagle]

Simply put, this beef between MS and IBM belongs strictly in US courts and not in the EU or the international courts.

Egads! He finally said something correct! Unfortunately, he probably simply misspoke, or will claim I took it out of context, etc.

[rzeznikj at stout]

Egads! I need to clarify that for the benefit of our friend, who has just arrived.

The squabble over whether IBM can order the handover and custody of documents belongs in the US--as it's between two US companies involving documents from those companies.

MS lost because the US courts don't have jurisdiction--they can't force these companies to hand over documents relating to an overseas case. Only the court in Europe can do that--and the arbitrators have ruled that out on the grounds that doing so interferes with sovereignty.

Now, if the case was being held in federal court, I suspect the outcome would have been different.

The European arbitration doesn't--that's solely between MS and the EU.