Summary: SAP/Microsoft lobbying against Oracle and Sun leads this former (proprietary) pair to an alliance which the European Commission ought to scrutinise

Microsoft and SAP were almost made a single company, but regardless of the outcome they conspire and lobby together for software patents in Europe [1, 2] and more recently we witnessed Microsoft's and SAP's joint lobbying attack on Oracle and Sun [1, 2, 3]. Victims include Java and OpenOffice.org.

According to this report, SAP is now acknowledging its role in blocking the acquisition of Sun.

SAP acknowledged in its statement that it has raised concerns about Oracle's $5.6 billion bid to buy Sun "with the U.S. Department of Justice and the European Commission as well as a number of other antitrust authorities throughout the world, and will continue to cooperate with these agencies in an open and transparent manner."

Watch what happens less than a week later. "Microsoft and SAP: Oracle in the Crosshairs," says the 'Microsoft press' and another source says that "SAP, Microsoft Gang Up on Oracle" (or "Microsoft and SAP Again Team Up Against Oracle"). "Microsoft And SAP Look To Take On Oracle By Joining Forces," puts it another source, with others that say "SAP, Microsoft align against Oracle in business software market" or "Mutual Need Drives SAP-Microsoft Alliance". This is what anti-Trust laws were established to prevent. These two were going to merge (takeover), but instead they work as a pair. How is this beneficial to the market?

If the European Croniession is looking for anti-competitive behaviour that harms the market, SAP and Microsoft too are worth looking at, not Oracle/Sun. Some of Microsoft's latest alliances are just meant to obstruct competition and SAP is one the accomplices. This helps absolutely nobody but SAP and Microsoft [1, 2]. ⬆