EU commission examining complaint against SAP, officials say

(Earth Times) Brussels - The European Union's executive is investigating an allegation that accounting software giant SAP has abused its market strength to cripple competitors, officials in Brussels said Wednesday.

EU rules prohibit market abuse. In an earlier software case, the European Commission fined Microsoft close on a billion dollars for what it ruled to be abuses of its position.

Now the EU executive is investigating whether SAP has also used its popularity to shut other companies out of the market, officials told the German Press Agency dpa.

The news came after US-based software firm Versata on Tuesday complained to the commission, saying that SAP had copied a version of its pricing software and then offered it to clients for free as a "bundled" part of a broader software package.

SAP also refused to share key codes which would allow software written by Versata to work effectively with SAP's programmes, the US-based company said.

"SAP's actions violate Article 102 of the European Union treaty by foreclosing competition, eliminating choice and competition-driven innovation, thereby harming consumers," Versata said in a statement.

Source Website: http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/news/332450,complaint-sap-officials-say.html

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