IBM Extends EC Antitrust Settlement
An antitrust settlement reached four years ago between International Business Machines Corp. and the European Commission is being extended indefinitely, commission officials said Thursday.
Under the extension, IBM, the world’s biggest electronics company, will continue to supply so-called interface information to competitors in the European Community, enabling them to make their own products compatible with IBM computers.
The extension appeared to be aimed at quelling a wave of uncertainty sweeping the computer industry over whether IBM would continue to provide information to rivals.
The commission officials noted that the IBM case reflected a unique market situation, in which technical standards were effectively set by one company and not by governments.
In return, an antitrust probe by the EC’s executive commission against IBM’s practices will remain suspended.
The probe was initiated because IBM before 1984 had been in the habit of not revealing technical details of its new computers to rivals, thus giving itself a lead in the market.
Commission officials said the agreement relates only to IBM’s most important family of computers, called System 370.
Under the 1984 agreement, IBM could have given notice Jan. 1 that it would terminate its undertaking a year later.
IBM and the commission said in a joint statement that neither foresaw any change in circumstances that would cause IBM to give notice.
Commission officials said IBM’s decision followed talks between Peter Sutherland, EC competition commissioner, and the president of IBM Europe, Mike Armstrong, two weeks ago.
They said Sutherland pushed hard at the meeting for IBM to extend its undertaking to set fears of EC competitors at rest.
The agreement has been reviewed annually since 1984 and this will continue, the officials said.
“IBM is now in a position (where) it can announce whatever it wants, but within . . . four months it has to reveal the technical data about it,” one official said.
The officials said IBM’s competitors were satisfied with the way the 1984 undertaking had worked and had requested about 700 pieces of technical information from IBM.
