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Rivals unite to fight Microsoft
November 16, 1997
Web posted at: 1:05 p.m. EST (1805 GMT)(CNN) -- A shared vision of the future of the Internet reportedly has brought five powerful technology companies together to take on the industry's top dog: Microsoft Corp.
Executives from International Business Machines Corp. (IBM), Netscape Communications Corp., Novell Corp., Oracle Corp. and Sun Microsystems Corp. have been quietly meeting for months, sometimes weekly, to share their ideas and technology, the Washington Post reported Sunday. While such a coalition would usually make antitrust lawyers squirm, some observers say the alliance may be viewed as a group trying to level the playing field.
"There's an increasing recognition in antitrust scholarship and law that sometimes cooperative arrangements among competitors is a good thing," Mark A. Lemley, a law professor at the University of Texas School of Law in Austin, told the Post.
Microsoft's business practices being called into question by the Justice Department and consumer advocate Ralph Nadar make it easier for such an alliance to begin operating openly.
The five businesses reportedly are focusing their efforts on three areas: developing the new computer language known as Java; creating a low-cost computer known as an NC, or network computer; and a new technique for creating software.
At Microsoft's annual shareholders' meeting on Friday, Chairman Bill Gates railed against the Justice investigation and other "attacks on Microsoft." Not referring specifically to the alliance, Gates accused his competitors and federal officials of making Microsoft the target of a "witchhunt."
"In terms of Internet technology, everyone should be rooting us on in terms of getting those into our product," he reportedly told the shareholders. "There's nothing more open than the Internet. There's nothing that's going to foster business efficiency and competition like the Internet."
According to the Post, Microsoft was invited to join the alliance, but chose not to.
"We've invited Microsoft to participate in everything we've done but by and large they've declined," John Kannegaard, a vice president at JavaSoft, a division of Sun, told the Post. "They don't share the vision. What can I tell you? We're not ganging up on Microsoft -- they've chosen not to come to the party."
The "vision" is that the Internet is the cornerstone of the information age, and that standards -- without ownership -- should be established. The fight against Microsoft is over what the standards should be, how open they should be, and who should set them.
The business executives envision a future where the Internet could be used easily with any type of operating system or hardware. To get that, they'll have to fight off the industry giant, which has already invested some $2 billion and countless programmers' hours to create a world dominated by Windows users.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Related stories:
- Microsoft rivals say browser war is really about Windows - October 20, 1997
- Sun sues Microsoft - October 7, 1997:
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