News
| Date | 01 April 1990 |
| Pages | 304-315 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/eb044997 |
| Published date | 01 April 1990 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Library & information science |
News
Host news
Dialog files
suit against ACS
On 7 June 1990, Dialog Information
Services filed a suit against the Ameri-
can Chemical Society (ACS) in the
United States District Court for the Dis-
trict of Columbia. In its suit, Dialog
charged that the Society had caused the
company $50 million in lost revenues
by limiting Dialog's access to infor-
mation in the CAS database, by with-
drawing access to previously available
data, and by other monopolistic prac-
tices.
It seeks recompense of $150
million, including $100 million in puni-
tive damages, and relief from outstand-
ing royalty claims from the ACS.
Dialog's lawsuit charges that "ACS
developed [the CAS service] with the
aid of more than $15 million in federal
government subsidies...Although the
terms of the subsidies required ACS to
make the database freely available at
fair and reasonable prices to third par-
ties such as Dialog, ACS has failed and
refused to do so. Instead, ACS has
sought to displace independent [online
suppliers] and to destroy competition
by restricting access to the [complete
database] and engaging in other preda-
tory conduct".
In a press release issued by James V.
Seals Jr, CAS Director of Marketing
and Corporate Development, ACS
countered Dialog's claim that it is "a
government-subsidised operation be-
cause of the funding it received from the
National Science Foundation between
1965 and 1976 and that due to certain
conditions in these contracts, CAS is
obliged to release all of its data files to
Dialog". According to the release, "all
terms and conditions of the NSF con-
tracts have been met in full. CAS is a
division of the American Chemical So-
ciety, we generate all our revenues from
the sale of services and are not in any
way supported by public funds".
Dialog claims further that in the
early 1970s it was urged by ACS to
make heavy investments in technology
and marketing so it could offer access to
the CAS database. Its complaint says
that "after encouraging others to de-
velop this tool and create the market for
it [the Society sought to] "preempt that
market for itself [by entering the mar-
ket as a supplier itself and then] "misu-
sing its monopolistic power over the da-
tabase to displace Dialog and other
providers".
According to Monitor
(No.
113,
July
1990),
CAS did become a direct com-
petitor of Dialog and other online ser-
vices,
but only to ensure its own long-
term financial stability. "Of strategic
concern to CAS in the late 1970s and
early 1980s," says Monitor, "was the
fact that practically all of this electronic
revenue (45% of revenues) came
through just one online supplier —
Dialog".
Realising that it would have to com-
pete with Dialog if it was to remain in-
dependent and financially solvent, CAS
entered the field as an online provider
in
the early 1980s. In 1983, it boosted its
competitive advantage by making the
abstract portions of
its
database and the
Registry Structure File available only to
CAS subscribers. By
1988,
this strategy
had raised the Society's market share
for online distribution of CAS from
15%
in 1983 to
60%.
CAS would claim
that this was an exercise in prudent
management, according to Monitor.
Dialog, on the other hand, terms it a
violation of
the
Sherman antitrust act.
Dialog claims that it has tried re-
peatedly to resolve its differences with
CAS through
negotiations.
The suit was
filed immediately after a meeting in
Washington between ACS and Knight-
Ridder. According to CAS, "Dialog
presented a list of demands which in-
cluded a perpetual, non-exclusive
license to process and distribute all
presently defined and all future CAS
files. When ACS management declined
to sign the prepared document binding
the Society to these conditions by
Knight-Ridder's 11:30 a.m. deadline,
Dialog filed suit the same day".
BRS
All databases on BRS/Search Service,
BRS/After Dark and BRS Colleague
can now be searched using Medspell
(Medical Spellings). The feature cuts
typing time by automatically retrieving
both American and British spelling
variations of a search term. For
example, if you type the search term
'anemia', both 'anemia' and 'anaemia'
are retrieved. BRS claims this can boost
the number of relevant articles retrieved
by
15
to
40%.
Data-Star
Data-Star subscribers have been asking
for CAB files and now they have three
to choose from. All are produced by
CAB International and date from 1984
to present with monthly updates:
CAB Human Nutrition covers all
aspects of human diet and nutrition, in-
cluding experimental research, experi-
mental methodology, nutritional bio-
chemistry, clinical nutrition and
nutritional disorders. Abstracts are
taken from over 10 000 journals in 75
different languages, as well as from
conference reports, books and theses.
CAB:
Medical Parasitology and
Mycology has information on human
parasitic organisms, their biology,
transmission and control and investiga-
tion techniques. There are some 60 000
abstracts of journal articles, conference
reports, theses and other literature.
CAB:
Veterinary Sciences/Me-
dicine
is a
bibliographic source of infor-
mation about all aspects of veterinary
science and medicine. It provides ab-
stracts and/or index citations from jour-
nals,
conferences, books, reports and
theses in over
75
languages.
Data-Star announced other new
files:
The Computer Industry Software,
Services and Products (CISS) data-
base produced by Janet Matthews Infor-
mation Services has the full text of three
newsletters covering the computer and
software markets worldwide: Personal
Computer Markets, Software Markets
and Computer Product Update. Cover-
age includes all aspects of the interna-
tional PC market, analyses of interna-
tional software markets, and detailed
information on new computer products.
Material from the three publications, all
published by Blackwell Scientific Pub-
304 The Electronic Library, Vol. 8, No. 4, August 1990
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