Software and Software Hosting Services

On September 19, 2006, the Competition Bureau initiated an inquiry as a result of a complaint by six residents concerning the trade practices of a supplier of software and software hosting services.

It was alleged in the complaint that the company concerned, which had developed software in accordance with the specifications of one of the complainants, had tied the sale of a licence for that software to its hosting services.

The trade practices of the company concerned were examined under sections 77 (Exclusive Dealing, Tied Selling and Market Restriction) and 79 (Abuse of Dominant Position) of the Competition Act. According to the information gathered, it appears that the company concerned does not dominate the markets in question, namely, the client management software market and the software hosting and development market.

After examining the information obtained, the Bureau concluded that continuation of the inquiry was not warranted based on the evidence in the file. Consequently, the Bureau discontinued its inquiry in December 2006.