On 20 September, the European Commission published commitments offered by IBM to remedy concerns that IBM may have abused a dominant position in the market for parts and technical information necessary for the maintenance of IBM mainframe hardware and software. The Commission's preliminary assessment is that IBM may have abused that dominant position by imposing unreasonable supply conditions on third party maintainers for the supply of parts and information. IBM does not accept the Commission's position, but has nonetheless proposed to enter into a framework contract with any third party maintainer of IBM mainframes on reasonable terms and conditions. It will make technical information available, and supply parts expeditiously and at the same prices as those offered to companies maintaining their own mainframes.
Although IBM does not accept the Commission's allegations, offering commitments is a way to bring the Commission's investigation to an end quickly, without the risk of fines or a finding of infringement that may in turn facilitate damages claims. The Commission has also announced that it is closing a second investigation into IBM's alleged tying of mainframe hardware and mainframe operating systems.
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