BookingBuilder Technologies has filed an antitrust complaint with the New York State Attorney General. This in response to a new Sabre policy that results in a fee charged to users of Web search tools like BookingBuilder's. It appears Sabre wants to exercise much tighter control over the MySabre desktop. The issue here seems to be around travel agents and their utilization of Sabre's platform while using third party tools that work more effectively for travel agents than Sabre's own offerings.

BookingBuilder founder and CEO Seth Perelman says "Sabre is using its power as owner of the Sabre platform to try to force us to make our product completely uncompetitive with theirs. We believe that this is a blatant violation of antitrust law." He explained to us that it was like Apple locking down its operating system to not allow a third party word processor to function without a key – to get this key requires an amount of money that makes the third party solution more expensive than Apple's own. This encapsulates the Sabre position.

Sabre is concerned that its system has enabled many third parties to benefit at its expense – "These tools rely on unfettered, no-cost access to the content and services of global distribution systems in order to facilitate shopping and booking of supplemental content from outside the GDS. Essentially, these tools have enjoyed a 'free ride' off the tremendously valuable efficient marketplace that the GDSs have created following many years and hundred of millions of dollars of product investment. In many cases, these third-party applications interface with the Sabre system without any valid commercial agreement providing them the right to do so. This is similar to the way sites such as Napster and Kazaa enjoyed a free ride off the valuable resources of the music industry and recording artists."

Fair point, but disingenuous. Napster and Kazaa changed online music delivery forever. Third parties simply move faster, and dare we say it, are probably smarter than monolithic GDS'. The world will keep changing and GDS business models are threatened by anything that is web-centric. It is fascinating to see Sabre fight with third parties rather than embrace them. One would think that active third party developments actually help Sabre and maintain its usefulness. The idea of charging for system access is logical from Sabre's point of view; but to set the hurdle so high as to cut off these firms is myopic. It would seem way smarter to co-opt these developers. Microsoft has managed to do this with its Windows platform so a precedent exists for us to see how GDS' could evolve, deriving benefits from third party developers and also stay useful to the travel industry.

If Microsoft cannot invent all the world's software to exploit its own Windows, how can Sabre feel that way about its platform?

BookingBuilder Technologies has filed an antitrust complaint with the New York State Attorney General. This in response to a new Sabre policy that results in a fee charged to users of Web search tools like BookingBuilder's. It appears Sabre wants to exercise much tighter control over the MySabre desktop. The issue here seems to be around travel agents and their utilization of Sabre's platform while using third party tools that work more effectively for travel agents than Sabre's own offerings.

BookingBuilder founder and CEO Seth Perelman says "Sabre is using its power as owner of the Sabre platform to try to force us to make our product completely uncompetitive with theirs. We believe that this is a blatant violation of antitrust law." He explained to us that it was like Apple locking down its operating system to not allow a third party word processor to function without a key – to get this key requires an amount of money that makes the third party solution more expensive than Apple's own. This encapsulates the Sabre position.

Sabre is concerned that its system has enabled many third parties to benefit at its expense – "These tools rely on unfettered, no-cost access to the content and services of global distribution systems in order to facilitate shopping and booking of supplemental content from outside the GDS. Essentially, these tools have enjoyed a 'free ride' off the tremendously valuable efficient marketplace that the GDSs have created following many years and hundred of millions of dollars of product investment. In many cases, these third-party applications interface with the Sabre system without any valid commercial agreement providing them the right to do so. This is similar to the way sites such as Napster and Kazaa enjoyed a free ride off the valuable resources of the music industry and recording artists."

Fair point, but disingenuous. Napster and Kazaa changed online music delivery forever. Third parties simply move faster, and dare we say it, are probably smarter than monolithic GDS'. The world will keep changing and GDS business models are threatened by anything that is web-centric. It is fascinating to see Sabre fight with third parties rather than embrace them. One would think that active third party developments actually help Sabre and maintain its usefulness. The idea of charging for system access is logical from Sabre's point of view; but to set the hurdle so high as to cut off these firms is myopic. It would seem way smarter to co-opt these developers. Microsoft has managed to do this with its Windows platform so a precedent exists for us to see how GDS' could evolve, deriving benefits from third party developers and also stay useful to the travel industry.

If Microsoft cannot invent all the world's software to exploit its own Windows, how can Sabre feel that way about its platform?