From The Register comes this story about QSGI, a mainframe reseller that is thinking of getting out of the business because of IBM’s strong-arm tactics.

In a recent quarterly earnings call, the Hightstown, N.J.-based company’s CEO, Marc Sherman, doesn’t actually mention IBM by name, only referring to it as an “OEM.” But he says that this OEM’s desire to control all upgrades and downgrades of mainframes in the marketplace is making it harder for QSGI to sell refurbished machines. I just listened to the earnings call online, and here’s part of what he said:

“Despite the strong growth in two of our divisions, we experienced a sharp decline in our data center hardware division due to what we believe to be anticompetitive business practices by a leading OEM. These practices have impacted the entire industry for remarketing of zSeries mainframe systems.

“Specifically, this OEM significantly diminished our ability to resell zSeries mainframe systems by setting impermissible restrictions around the ability to upgrade or downgrade the configurations deployed on these machines.

“Let me make a brief illustration of some of the issues caused by this OEM. Until July, QSGI would sell a mainframe to an end user. The end user’s configuration may have required more or less memory or processing power. QSGI would buy a kit from the OEM to change the configuration of the computer to meet the end user’s needs.

“The OEM policy (now) forbids anyone except them from making upgrades or downgrades, so in order for QSGI to sell a refurbished system, QSGI would have to have an exact match in stock to meet the customer’s exact needs. If QSGI does not have an exact match, it could sell the customer a box, but only the customer can seek an upgrade or downgrade, and then only after six months of installation.

“During these six months, the end user might have a box that is too powerful and therefore is paying too much for the software for half a year, a cost which could likely negate the purchase of a used machine, or have a box that is not strong enough to meet its needs.”

The CEO added that QSGI’s legal team is examining the OEM’s business practices and feels it is violating the Sherman Antitrust Act, and QSGI is also trying to reach out to IBM — uh, I mean, the OEM — to resolve the issue. In the meantime, the company is getting ready to exit the mainframe hardware business.

QSGI isn’t the only company that’s had legal problems with Big Blue — uh, I mean the OEM. PSI is currently in a legal spat with them over antitrust issues.