Microsoft competitors weigh in over EU appeal
- Author:
- Antony Savvas
- Posted:
- 10:40 12 Dec 2005
Two trade groups representing several Microsoft's competitors have asked to take part in the software manufacturer’s second appeal of the European Commission's 2004 anti-trust decision.
The European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS) has asked to take part, as has the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), which represents hundreds of companies.
ECIS’ membership includes IBM, Oracle, Nokia, Red Hat and RealNetworks, which has already settled with Microsoft over issues stemming from the anti-trust investigation.
The two trade groups have already been accepted as participants in Microsoft’s ongoing appeal against the main anti-trust judgement.
They now want to be involved in the company’s second appeal, lodged in August, which focuses on Microsoft’s insistence that it shouldn’t have to share server protocols with developers and suppliers involved in open-source projects.
The sharing of server protocols was covered in the main judgement against Microsoft, but the open-source aspect was not specifically addressed.
If the involvement of the trade groups is allowed by the Luxembourg court, they would be allowed access to case files and to make written comments to the court.
