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Computer and Communications Industry Association collection of antitrust records

 Collection
Identifier: CBI 13

Scope and Content Note

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.

Dates

  • ca. 1940-1980

Creator

Language of Materials

English

Access to materials:

Access to the collection is unrestricted.

Copyright:

The Charles Babbage Institute 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).

Historical Note

The Computer and Communications Industry Association (CCIA) was involved in the duplicating and making available of 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.

Extent

82 boxes (81.5 cubic feet)

Abstract

Contains photocopied or microfilmed transcripts, exhibits, briefs, reports, depositions, and other court records from various antitrust suits in the computer industry. The most heavily documented case is U.S. vs. IBM. Other plaintiffs and defendants include: David Bunch, Howard S. Levine, American Telephone and Telegraph, Bell Telephone Laboratories, CALCOMP, Control Data Corporation, Greyhound Computer, ILC Data Devices, Litton Industries, Memorex Corporation, Telex, Transamerica Computer, and Western Electric.

Arrangement of Collection

The materials in this collection are arranged by lawsuit into the following groups :

  1. U.S. v. IBM
  2. Bunch v. IBM
  3. CALCOMP v. IBM
  4. CDC, Telex, and Greyhound v. IBM
  5. CDC v. IBM
  6. Greyhound v. IBM
  7. IBM v. Telex
  8. IBM v. U.S.
  9. ILC v. IBM and Memorex v. IBM
  10. Levin v. IBM
  11. Litton v. AT & T
  12. Telex v. IBM
  13. U.S. v. AT & T, Western Electric, and Bell Labs
  14. TCC v. IBM
  15. Miscellany

The transcripts are arranged chronologically and by page number. Most of the exhibits for the U.S. v. IBM are arranged 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 been 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.

Acquisition:

The records were given to the Charles Babbage Institute by the Computer and Communications Industry Association in 1986.

Title
Computer and Communications Industry Association Collection of Antitrust Records, ca. 1940-1980. Finding Aid.
Author
Prepared by Bruemmer, Garner, and Corbitt, March 1991.
Date
2004
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
English

Collecting Area Details

Contact The Charles Babbage Institute Archives Collecting Area

Contact:
Elmer L. Andersen Library
222 - 21st Avenue South
Minneapolis MN 55455
612-624-5050