Mainframe computing firm Platform Solutions Inc
(PSI) has hit back at IBM's "predatory business practices",
alleging in court that the computing giant is seeking to destroy
competition for mainframe users.
In response to earlier moves by IBM, PSI filed its own claims in
the US District Court for the Southern District of New York
alleging antitrust violations and unfair competition.
PSI's response is based on IBM's efforts to "maintain its monopoly
and to prevent the development of a competitive alternative to
IBM's mainframe products ", the company claimed.
PSI is seeking damages "based on the harm that IBM's conduct has
caused and is causing to PSI, as well as an injunction and/or
remedies to prevent IBM from harming PSI in the future".
Christian Reilly, vice president of product management and
marketing at PSI, said: "PSI believes it has a compelling legal
position and that it will prevail in court.
"IBM's lawsuit against PSI is part of a concerted effort to
eliminate competition for mainframe computers, and its refusal to
provide the operating systems needed to run mainframe computers to
PSI customers is blatantly anti-competitive.
"IBM's claims also reflect a reversal of its long-standing practice
of licensing its intellectual property on reasonable and
non-discriminatory terms, a policy that it trumpeted on its website
until last year.
"What IBM is trying to do here would be the equivalent to a
hypothetical situation in which Microsoft had monopoly power in the
markets for both PCs and PC operating systems and then refused to
license Windows to HP, Dell or other PC manufacturers to maintain
and sustain its monopoly position."
Reilly also alleged that IBM's "predatory business practices have
affected our company, but PSI's open mainframe computers have been
well received by customers who value us as the only alternative
supplier in the marketplace".