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Nokia Quits Group Over Microsoft

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 12:00 CST

Nokia said Tuesday it had quit the Computer and Communications Industry Association, or CCIA, a trade group that had been fighting Microsoft for almost a decade, after the group announced that it was ending its war with its former foe. Nokia objected to the way the association made peace with Microsoft, Arja Suominen, a Nokia spokeswoman, said. "It was not handled in the proper way," she said, declining to give details of Nokia's concerns. In a settlement announced on Monday, Microsoft agreed to pay the CCIA an undisclosed sum in return for the trade group's ending all antitrust actions against it on both sides of the Atlantic. The CCIA, which says it promotes fair competition in the technology industry, had been one of the European Commission's staunchest allies, and its interventions were credited with having played a prominent role in pushing the European regulator to issue a tough ruling against Microsoft last March, which Microsoft is now appealing.

Nokia supported the CCIA's combative stance toward Microsoft because it feared that the software company could extend its dominance of computer operating systems into the mobile phone market, as the two industries converge. Edward Black, chief executive of the CCIA, said he regretted losing Nokia as a member, adding: "We understand their reasons." A person close to the trade group said he did not expect other members to follow suit. "If anything, this may boost the CCIA's ability to recruit new members," the person said on condition of anonymity. Many companies are scared of antagonizing Microsoft because everyone relies on its software in one way or another, this person said. Historically the CCIA has been seen as Microsoft's No. 1 enemy, so there has been a risk attached to membership of the trade group.

CCIA members include Sun Microsystems, which ended its feud with Microsoft in April after securing a cash payment of almost $2 billion from the company and a promise to disclose secret details about the Windows operating system which are needed to enable Sun to make its software work properly with Windows. Other CCIA members include Oracle, Yahoo, Fujitsu, Nortel Networks, Time Warner and Verizon Communications.

Source: International Herald Tribune

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