Oracle Joins Group That Backed Microsoft

Oracle Corp., which is battling the U.S. government in court over the company’s $9.4-billion hostile takeover of PeopleSoft Inc., has joined a trade group that supported Microsoft Corp. in its fight with antitrust enforcers.

Redwood City, Calif.-based Oracle, one of the software companies that backed the Justice Department’s landmark lawsuit against Microsoft, joined the Washington-based Assn. for Competitive Technology, or ACT.

The group has criticized the government’s enforcement of antitrust law in the software and computer industries.