European body to press antitrust case against IBM

The European Community Commission has decided to pursue an antitrust case against US-based computer giant International Business Machines. The commission decided to move despite pressure from the Reagan administration to drop the case , EC sources said.

The commission has charged IBM had abused a dominant market position in the EC, partly by witholding data on new computers and thereby forcing clients to use IBM programs and other materials. According to the EC, the company has captured more than 60 percent of the Community market for installed computers. Under the terms of EC treaties, the commission could fine IBM and oblige it to change its business practices if it concluded the case was founded.

The US Justice Department decided in January to abandon a 13-year-old antitrust case it had brought against IBM.