Opinion ID: 392798
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Development of the Present I/O Standard

Text: 9 Recognition of these benefits, however, did not induce, either easily or speedily, the creation of the desired standard. As early as 1967 the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) had established a joint industry-government committee intended, initially, to investigate the feasibility and practical impact of I/O interface standardization and, subsequently, to develop voluntary I/O standards for the industry. While the committee failed in its second objective, its failure did prompt congressional charges of purposeful industry delay and a call for mandatory standards promulgated by the government. 3 10 Responding to this concern, the Department of Commerce published, and subsequently promulgated, 4 the four interface standards at issue here. These standards define the mechanical, electrical and functional interface specifications for connecting computer peripheral equipment, such as magnetic tape and disk devices, as a part of medium and large scale automatic data processing (ADP) systems. 5 Decision Memorandum (D.M.) Regarding Recommended Federal Information Processing Standards for I/O Channel Level Interface (Jan. 22, 1979) at 1, Joint Appendix (J.A.) at 89. Through the promulgation of these standards, the Department expected to increase competition among peripheral equipment suppliers and thus enjoy lower purchasing costs and to increase opportunities for exchange or transfer of equipment among agencies, thereby employing more efficiently the government's existing ADP inventory. D.M. Regarding Recommended Federal Information Processing Standard for Rotating Mass Storage Subsystems (Aug. 8, 1979), J.A. at 102. 11 Appellants, submitting comments on the proposed standards, raised two principal objections. First, they argued that because the standards embodied IBM specifications to which appellants did not presently conform, appellants would be required to expend great amounts of time and money in order to compete for government ADP contracts. IBM would thus occupy a highly favored position vis-a-vis other ADP suppliers in the government market. Because appellants provide the only major alternatives to IBM, this disparity would hinder the operation of the desired competition. Appellants' second argument focused on the fact that the IBM specifications utilized by the Department were already fifteen years old. By mandating adherence to such standards, appellants contended, the Secretary was freezing a critical element of computer systems at an outdated level of technology, and effectively slowing the innovative process. 12 Contrary to these assertions, however, the Secretary found that the standards would not place any manufacturer at a competitive disadvantage. Indeed, according to the Secretary, over seventy manufacturers already made available to federal agencies equipment with interfaces of, or substantially similar to, the type established by the standards. In addition, the Secretary felt that delay of the effective date of the standards to three hundred days subsequent to promulgation provided noncomplying manufacturers with sufficient time to develop conforming interfaces. Finally, the Secretary found that the standards would not adversely affect technological innovation. In any event the standards would be evaluated within three years, at which time any adverse impact could be readily assessed. See Brief for Appellees at 15 n.7.