Computer and Communications Industry Association

Antitrust Records, ca. 1940-1980

CBI 13

 

81.5 cubic feet in 82 boxes

By: Bruemmer, Garner, and Corbitt, March 1991

ACQUISITION: The records were given to the Charles Babbage Institute by the Computer and Communications Industry Association in 1986, accession 987-013.

ACCESS: The collection is unrestricted.

COPYRIGHT: CBI holds the copyright to all materials in the collection, except for items covered by a prior copyright (such as published materials). Most of the material in the collection was presented during trial and is a public record. Researchers may quote from the collection under the fair use provisions of the copyright law (Title 17, U.S. Code).

Please cite the collection as follows: Computer and Communications Industry Association. Antitrust Records (CBI 13), Charles Babbage Institute, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

History

The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) was involved in the duplicating and making available court documents of interest to their members. The CCIA assembled the documents, assigned their own numbering scheme, and in some cases created microfiche copies of the records. The most significant lawsuit documented by the CCIA was United States v. International Business Machines Corporation (U.S. District Court, 69 Civ. 200 [DNE]), one of the largest antitrust cases in the United States to be brought to trial. The suit was commenced in January of 1969, although it did not become active until 1972. The trial began on May 19, 1975. The government charged International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) with monopolizing the market for general purpose digital computers, systems, and submarkets for peripherals in violation of section 2 of the Sherman Act. The government abandoned the lawsuit in January, 1982.

IBM was involved in a number of antitrust suits throughout the 1970s that were documented by CCIA. Greyhound's suit against IBM came to trial in 1972 and charged IBM with monopolizing the computer leasing market. The court ruled in favor of IBM, though the case was reversed when appealed and settled out of court. IBM v. Telex came to trial in 1973 and accused IBM of monopolizing the "plug compatible" equipment market (tape drives, disk drives, and add-on memories). The district court ruled in favor of Telex, only to be reversed in 1975. California Computer Products (CALCOMP) sued IBM in 1973 and the case went to trial in 1976. The district court dismissed the case after the plaintiff's presentation and that ruling was upheld by the court of appeals. Memorex v. IBM was tried in 1978 in San Francisco, and that case was also dismissed by the judge. Transamerica Computer Corporation v. IBM went to trial in 1978 in San Francisco.

Scope and Content

The collection consists of photocopies and microfiche copies of transcripts, exhibits, depositions, legal briefings, motions, trial monitors, and other court records. The majority of the collection is records relating to U.S. v. IBM and Telex v. IBM. Lawsuits between IBM and Bunch, CALCOMP, Control Data Corporation (CDC), Greyhound, Levin, Memorex, and Transamerica Computer Corporation (TCC) are also documented. Also included in the collection are some records to lawsuits against AT & T by Litton Industries and the United States.

The arrangement of the collection is by lawsuit. The transcripts are arranged chronologically and by page number. Most of the exhibits for the U.S. v. IBM by CCIA number. A portion of the exhibits are arranged by exhibit number. A number of reports apparently used for reference material and intended for use or used as exhibits have beeen included under the document's title when no numbering system was used for classification of the documents. There is an early cross-index from docket number to CCIA number and the microfiche, but it is not comprehensive. The records are further divided within some of the more heavily documented lawsuits under headings such as briefs, special masters, reports, et cetera. The transcripts and exhibits are incomplete.

Arrangement of the Collection


Inventory

U.S. v. IBM

Transcripts

Exhibits

Indexes

Miscellaneous court documents

Miscellaneous Department of Justice Reference Materials

Miscellaneous Depositions

Miscellaneous Exhibits

Miscellaneous Plantiff's Exhibits

Miscellaneous Reports

Pretrial Briefs

Pretrial Transcripts

Special Masters

Trial Monitors

Bunch v. IBM

CALCOMP v. IBM

CDC, Telex, and Greyhound v. IBM

CDC v. IBM

Greyhound v. IBM

IBM v. Telex

IBM v. U.S.

ILC v. IBM and Memorex v. IBM

Daily Trial Transcripts

Miscellaneous

Levin v.IBM

Telex v. IBM

Plaintiff's Exhibits

Briefs

Depositions

Plaintiff's Exhibits

Stipulations, etcetera

TCC v. IBM

U.S. v. AT & T, Western Electric, and Bell Labs

Miscellany

Includes a report on the federal information processing standards program, option papers prepared for the Subcommittee on Communications of the Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives and written testimony of witness who appeared before the Antitrust and Monopoly Subcommittee of the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee.


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