Microsoft judgment delayed for third time<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Despite the fact that piracy is rampant here,
\nany hope of obtaining legal redress will require patience,
\npersistence and plenty of time.<\/p>\n
For the third time in a row, the Central Jakarta District
\nCourt failed on Thursday to deliver a judgment in a piracy case
\ninvolving Microsoft Inc. and four local computer traders.<\/p>\n
Presiding judge Amiruddin Zakaria opened the hearing at 3:20
\np.m., more than four hours late, only to adjourn it for another
\ntwo weeks.<\/p>\n
Amiruddin said the judges had yet to complete the drafting of
\nthe judgment as they wanted to make it \"as watertight as
\npossible\".<\/p>\n
He said that they had to carefully study the case before
\ndelivering judgment in court.<\/p>\n
\"It's the first such case here. We have to be very careful
\nbecause the judgment will become a precedent for similar cases in
\nthe future,\" he told The Jakarta Post later.<\/p>\n
Microsoft sued five local computer companies for allegedly
\ninstalling pirated Windows 98, Windows 97 and Microsoft Office
\n2000 software in computers and then selling them to public.<\/p>\n
PT Panca Putra Komputindo, HJ Computer, HM Computer and Altec
\nComputer, which are all based in the Mangga Dua shopping mall, a
\nhaven for cheap, pirated computer software, was sued in the
\nCentral Jakarta District Court, while PT Kusumo Megah Jaya Sakti,
\nwhich is also based in Mangga Dua, was sued in the West Jakarta
\nDistrict Court.<\/p>\n
Microsoft is demanding that each company pay between US$1
\nmillion and $5 million in damages, issue a public apology in 10
\nlocal newspapers, and stop installing and selling its pirated
\nsoftware.<\/p>\n
On Monday, Presiding Judge M. Saleh of the West Jakarta
\nDistrict Court had also failed for the third time to deliver a
\njudgment.<\/p>\n
Annoying<\/p>\n
Lawyers from both sides voiced their disappointment on
\nThursday as they had wasted hours waiting for the court to
\nconvene.<\/p>\n
\"Why didn't they tell us this before? It's the third time the
\nsession has been postponed. This is annoying,\" Hermawi Taslim, a
\nlawyer for the traders, told reporters.<\/p>\n
Microsoft lawyer Ahmad Djosan said he could do nothing as the
\nconvening of the court was the prerogative of the judges, not the
\nlawyers.<\/p>\n
\"It has become an Indonesian legal tradition. We have to
\nfollow the rules come what may,\" he said.<\/p>\n
In reality, unclear judicial procedures are common here.<\/p>\n
The same court on Tuesday also failed for the second time to
\nhand down a judgment in a class action suit filed against the
\nstate-owned oil company Pertamina over what the plaintiffs claim
\nwas an \"arbitrary\" decision to increase the price of liquefied
\npetroleum gas (LPG) by 40 percent.<\/p>\n
Judge Ali A. Haky explained that he had not yet reached a
\ndecision as he was still recovering from an operation, and
\nadjourned the session for three weeks.<\/p>\n
\"I'm still receiving medical treatment after having eye
\nsurgery last week,\" Ali said, when he opened the session at about
\n1:30 p.m.<\/p>\n
Johnson Panjaitan, one of the lawyers for the LPG consumers,
\nwho had been waiting at the courthouse for a judgment for over
\nthree hours, regretted Ali's decision as two weeks ago the court
\nhad also postponed giving a judgment.<\/p>\n
Johnson said that before opening the session, Ali had said he
\nwould deliver the judgment in his chambers, but the lawyer
\nrejected Ali's suggestion on the grounds that as the case
\ninvolved the public domain, the judgment should therefore be
\ndelivered in open court.<\/p>\n
\"I don't know his real reason (for adjourning the session). If
\nhe is really sick, he should have told us hours before,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The price of LPG increased from Rp 1,500 to Rp 2,100 per
\nkilogram in November last year. (04)<\/p>",
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