Addamax has launched a massive antitrust action against the Open Software Foundation specifically targetting Hewlett-Packard and DEC, two of the Foundation’s high-profile founders. The suit filed in federal court in Massachusetts, follows on the heels of an investigation into the foundation begun several months ago by the US Federal Trade Commission focusing on alleged antitrust violations stemming from the Foundation’s vaunted Request for Technology scheme for acquiring technology (CI No 1,594). Addamax is the privately-held five year old Illinois-based software vendor, whose trusted systems technology was snubbed by the Foundation in favour of SecureWare when it selected a security system for OSF/1 in 1989. The company has charged the Foundation, DEC and Hewlett-Packard with violation of the US Sherman and Clayton Antitrust Acts, the Massachusetts Antitrust Act, the Massachusetts Unfair Trade Practices Act and Massachusetts common law. It is seeking a permanent injunction against the Foundation, its seven corporate sponsors or in fact any company from ever marketing any Foundation trusted system product. Addamax is also asking the court for punitive treble damages, which the suit itself leaves unspecified but which Addamax president Peter Alsberg estimates could exceed $100m, based on the size of the market and the pricing that existed at the time he claims he was damaged. The complaint alleges that the Foundation and its corporate sponsors have acted as an illegal cartel by conspiring to fix prices for software technology, setting price ceilings in certain markets, and providing competitive advantage to the Foundation’s sponsors by dictating standards favourable to their technologies and strategies. Addamax says it named Hewlett-Packard and DEC rather than any of the other Foundation founders because we believe they were particularly visible in directing the Foundation’s illegal activity.
