British TV provider BSkyB lauded the ruling handed down Tuesday by Justice Ramsey in the Royal Courts of Justice, which validated one of the network’s five original claims against EDS, the IT services company that was recently bought by Hewlett-Packard.

"Mr. Justice Ramsey found that EDS had lied to Sky in order to secure a contract as part of the company’s investment in a new customer relationship management system. Sky anticipates that EDS will be liable to pay Sky an amount of at least £200m," BSkyB said in a statement. UK tech website The Register reported that HP intends to appeal the ruling, and that "the case is thought to be the most expensive in British legal history."

Tech news site ZDNet wrote that "Martyn Hart, chairman of the National Outsourcing Association, said on Wednesday that it was unlikely any appeal by HP would go far."

The news site said that Hart predicted the case would set a precedent that would encourage managed IT service companies like SAP to excel.