The world’s largest handset manufacturer is reported as saying it left the Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) because it believed the Microsoft settlement content and process were inappropriate.
Nokia was unavailable for comment, however the company’s logo is no longer evident on the portion of the CCIA’s web site that displays logos from other members, including Oracle, Red Hat and Sun Microsystems.
According to documents published on the Washington DC-based IT lobby group’s web site, Nokia was a CCIA member as recently as September.
Microsoft this month settled with CCIA, paying the group $19.8 million to drop a private antitrust action and end its support for European Commission’s own antitrust case against Microsoft, which covers server software and media players. With Sun and Oracle among its ranks, the CCIA has been a vociferous Microsoft critic in recent years.
It was reported, though, that $9.8 million of the CCIA’s settlement was paid to Black as a bonus. It was additionally reported that Black would receive an annual salary of $500,000 for the next three years. Both the bonus and salary were approved by CCIA members.
When reached by ComputerWire for comment, the CCIA passed all enquires to Black who refused to comment on either his package or the actual figures involved. Black cited legal conditions of the settlement.
The CCIA payment came as Microsoft also paid Novell Corp $536 million over legal action concerning the NetWare operating system. Novell subsequently opened a fresh attack on Microsoft, accusing the company of antitrust violations against WordPerfect.
