Microsoft Corp, the world's biggest software maker, gained the support of an international group representing about 1,600 small and medium-sized companies in its appeal against a EU antitrust order.
The International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners Inc, which represents companies that develop software based on the Windows operating system, asked the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg for permission to support Microsoft's appeal, said Per Werngren, the group's president.
"We're fighting a trend that's weakening our business," Werngren, chief executive of Stockholm-based software maker IDE Natverkskonsulterna, said in an interview yesterday.
"It's not a matter of principle. It's a matter of our bread and butter," Werngren said.
Microsoft, whose software runs more than 90 percent of the world's personal computers, was ordered by European regulators last March to sell a version of Windows without a music and video player and to license information on the inner workings of the operating system to competitors.
The European Commission, the EU's antitrust watchdog, also fined Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft a record 497 million euros (US$601 million). Bo Vesterdorf, president of the Court of First Instance, in December rejected Microsoft's request to delay the antitrust order pending an appeal.
International Business Machines Corp, Oracle Corp and Nokia Oyj in May won court permission to join the antitrust case against Microsoft. The companies are members of an organization called the European Committee for Interoperability Systems.
The Court of First Instance, Europe's second-highest tribunal, said in March that RealNetworks Inc could argue against Microsoft. It also admitted trade groups Software & Information Industry Association and Free Software Foundation Europe eV to argue against Microsoft's request to annul the EU ruling.
Members of the Stockholm-based International Association of Microsoft Certified Partners are asking to join Mamut ASA, the Association for Competitive Technology Inc and the Computing Technology Industry Association Inc, which have already won permission to support Microsoft.
The group's members said in a statement that they want "to prevent the increase of their costs and the consumer pain that the commission decision will generate."
They're also concerned that Microsoft will be forced to reveal trade secrets and intellectual property rights to makers of open source products such as Linux.
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