ECIS makes stand against Microsoft

A group calling themselves the European Committee for Interoperable Systems (ECIS), including IBM, Oracle, Nokia, Red Hat, and RealNetworks, have applied to join the European Commission’s anti-trust case against computer giant Microsoft.

It is not sure that the ECIS will be granted the right to officially join the proceedings; it missed a filing deadline with the court.

Even if they are not granted official standing, the ECIS will still be able to lend technological and legal advice to the European Commission on an unofficial basis.

A great deal of help in these areas was lost when Sun, Novell, and the Computer and Communications Industry Association dropped out of the case after settling out of court with Microsoft.

Besides taking their technical expertise with them when the left the case, the departure of these companies also took with them a certain measure of the credibility of the case against Microsoft.

The ECIS can still apply to participate in oral arguments in the appeal even if their standing is not made official.

Discuss this in the Finance Markets forums

Story link: ECIS makes stand against Microsoft