AlbertPacino
Skilled
A lobby group backed by Nokia, Oracle and IBM has asked an EU court for permission to join the European Commission in its antitrust battle with Microsoft, it said on Wednesday.
The five-firm European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) said its request demonstrated there was still solid industry backing for the EU executive's crackdown on Microsoft, despite settlements with some opponents.
In a landmark ruling last year the Commission found Microsoft abused the near-monopoly of its Windows computer operating system to crush competition. It fined the world's biggest software maker nearly 500 million euros ($642 million) and ordered it to change its business practices.
Microsoft failed in its bid to delay the sanctions, which required it to sell a version of Windows without Windows Media Player and share software data with rivals. However, the software giant is appealing the main ruling, even as it puts in place the changes ordered by the Commission.
The ECIS technology industry group, which also includes software firms Red Hat Inc. and RealNetworks, has asked to intervene on the EU executive's side against Microsoft's appeal at the European Court of First Instance.
Thomas Vinje, a lawyer with Clifford Chance in Brussels who represents the committee, said it undermined Microsoft's claims that technology firms did not back the Commission's ruling.
"Microsoft, in the wake of buying off several of the Commission's supporters, has been saying that the Commission stands naked, that is has little or no industry support for its case," Vinje said.
"I think that this resoundingly demonstrates that is not true."
However, the committee's application to intervene may be rejected because it missed a December court deadline, Vinje said. The court could, nevertheless, still choose to admit ECIS, he added, as there are no deadlines on the court's decision.
Even if the committee is not officially allowed as a party to the action, it could still provide assistance to the Commission, which polices competition in the 25-nation European Union.
ECIS has already been given the right to intervene in the process of implementing and monitoring changes to Microsoft's business practices ordered by the Commission.
COMPLICATED HISTORY
Five allies of Microsoft and four of the Commissionâ€â€a mixture of companies and trade associationsâ€â€have already won the right to intervene before the EU court in Luxembourg.
Five allies of Microsoft and four of the Commissionâ€â€a mixture of companies and trade associationsâ€â€have already won the right to intervene before the EU court in Luxembourg.
Nokia and Microsoft have a checkered history.
The world's biggest mobile phone maker belonged to Microsoft opponent the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA)â€â€which withdrew from the antitrust case last year after a $20 million payment by Microsoft. Nokia then left the CCIA.
But in February Nokia, a long-time customer of Microsoft rival RealNetworks, struck a deal with Microsoft involving the downloading of music onto mobile phones.
Source
This is gonna turn in one big festa,i just cant wait to see what the next few dayz/months will bring,lets stay tunned....
The five-firm European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) said its request demonstrated there was still solid industry backing for the EU executive's crackdown on Microsoft, despite settlements with some opponents.
In a landmark ruling last year the Commission found Microsoft abused the near-monopoly of its Windows computer operating system to crush competition. It fined the world's biggest software maker nearly 500 million euros ($642 million) and ordered it to change its business practices.
Microsoft failed in its bid to delay the sanctions, which required it to sell a version of Windows without Windows Media Player and share software data with rivals. However, the software giant is appealing the main ruling, even as it puts in place the changes ordered by the Commission.
The ECIS technology industry group, which also includes software firms Red Hat Inc. and RealNetworks, has asked to intervene on the EU executive's side against Microsoft's appeal at the European Court of First Instance.
Thomas Vinje, a lawyer with Clifford Chance in Brussels who represents the committee, said it undermined Microsoft's claims that technology firms did not back the Commission's ruling.
"Microsoft, in the wake of buying off several of the Commission's supporters, has been saying that the Commission stands naked, that is has little or no industry support for its case," Vinje said.
"I think that this resoundingly demonstrates that is not true."
However, the committee's application to intervene may be rejected because it missed a December court deadline, Vinje said. The court could, nevertheless, still choose to admit ECIS, he added, as there are no deadlines on the court's decision.
Even if the committee is not officially allowed as a party to the action, it could still provide assistance to the Commission, which polices competition in the 25-nation European Union.
ECIS has already been given the right to intervene in the process of implementing and monitoring changes to Microsoft's business practices ordered by the Commission.
COMPLICATED HISTORY
Five allies of Microsoft and four of the Commissionâ€â€a mixture of companies and trade associationsâ€â€have already won the right to intervene before the EU court in Luxembourg.
Five allies of Microsoft and four of the Commissionâ€â€a mixture of companies and trade associationsâ€â€have already won the right to intervene before the EU court in Luxembourg.
Nokia and Microsoft have a checkered history.
The world's biggest mobile phone maker belonged to Microsoft opponent the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA)â€â€which withdrew from the antitrust case last year after a $20 million payment by Microsoft. Nokia then left the CCIA.
But in February Nokia, a long-time customer of Microsoft rival RealNetworks, struck a deal with Microsoft involving the downloading of music onto mobile phones.
Source
This is gonna turn in one big festa,i just cant wait to see what the next few dayz/months will bring,lets stay tunned....