A month after IBM sued Platform Solutions Inc. for breaching its contract and infringing patents, PSI has filed a countersuit that denies the charges and accuses Big Blue of abusing a monopoly in mainframe servers. PSI sells technology that lets Itanium-based machines run IBM's z/OS mainframe operating system and other software. IBM didn't immediately respond to requests for comment.
"In an effort to eliminate consumer choice and destroy the only viable source of competition to its own mainframe computers, IBM is tying its mainframe computers to its mainframe operating systems by conditioning the sale of its operating systems upon the purchase or continued use of an IBM mainframe computer," PSI said in its suit.
And in a statement, Christian Reilly, PSI's vice president of product management and marketing added, "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."
Google creates an animated doodle that features a boy, a girl, Google's search engine, and a jump rope. But might there be darker, more analytical, more troubling interpretations to this tale?
The Silicon Valley online payments startup grew by 1,000 percent last year and is hopeful it can repeat that level of growth this year. To do that, it's had to move away from its early friends-and-family roots and embrace small businesses.
Chamtech's spray-on antenna uses a nano material to provide a low-power boost to antenna range. The wireless-in-a-can product may some day bring an end to unsightly cell towers.
EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
by Richard DeLamarter.