IBM Faces Justice Antitrust Inquiry

The Justice Department is investigating allegations that International Business Machines Corp. has monopolized the market for mainframe computers, broadening Washington's search for anti-competitive behavior in the technology industry. Members of the Computer & Communications Industry Association—a group with many IBM rivals among its members—recently received civil investigative demands from the Justice Department seeking information related to IBM, said the group's chief executive, Edward Black . The requests, a special kind of subpoena used in antitrust investigations, followed a complaint by the group to the Justice Department accusing IBM of harming businesses by abusing its dominance of the market for mainframes.