EU Extends Review of Microsoft-Time Warner Deal for Anti-Piracy Software
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European antitrust regulators worry that Microsoft could dominate the burgeoning market for digital rights management software
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Microsoft says it will comply with sanctions imposed by the European Commission and upheld by the Court of First Instance. The EU says the software company must offer an unbundled version of Windows without Windows Media Player.
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The European Commission has announced that it will investigate plans by Microsoft and Time Warner to buy a Digital Rights Management firm after an initial review gave rise to fears that the purchase might create or strengthen a dominant position by
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p2pnet.net News:- European Union antitrust regulators will launch an investigation into whether or not the proposed Microsoft-Time Warner joint acquisition of a US DRM company will strengthen Microsoft&#39;s &quot;already leading position&quot; in the DRM solutions
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The European Commission has stopped the clock on its review of Microsoft and Time Warner's purchase of U.S. anti-piracy software maker ContentGuard, a spokesman for the EU executive said on Tuesday.
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WASHINGTON - Six states, including Massachusetts, sought a five-year extension of an antitrust court decree imposed on Microsoft Corp. , arguing that continued judicial supervision is needed to prevent the world's largest software company from crushing challenges to its Windows operating system monopoly.
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Microsoft's attempt to get EU antitrust penalties against it suspended turns to the question of its media player.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft's Windows Vista OS doesn't pose antitrust issues so far, according to the latest status report on Microsoft's compliance with the U.S. antitrust settlement. The company has addressed all of the bugs identified relating to how third-party middleware software interacts with Vista, according to the report, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. Microsoft has increased its cooperation with the court's technical committee in several ways to help ensure that middleware vendors have their software ready for Vista before the OS ships, the report said. The document defines middleware as software programs such as instant messaging programs, media players, e-mail clients, and Internet browsers. Around 30 vendors are working with regulators and Microsoft on how their software works with Vista, the report said. The U.S. government and states that were a party to the antitrust suit against Microsoft have conducted "extensive testing" of interim builds of Vista and Internet Explorer 7 to ensure compliance with the November 2002 antitrust settlement, the report said. As part of that settlement, Microsoft agreed to license communication protocols to IT vendors interested in developing server software that works smoothly with its Windows operating system. After complaints, Microsoft is rewriting some of the technical documentation for its Microsoft Communications Protocol Program (MCPP). The status report said Microsoft has made the new documentation easier to understand, but the company needs to stay on schedule for delivering further documents. Microsoft has until November 2009 to provide the information. The European Commission has also beenÂ scrutinizing Vista, following its 2004 antitrust ruling against Microsoft. So far, the Commission has taken no action against Vista. Microsoft has warned that if regulatory interference delays Vista's European launch, it couldÂ hurt Europe's economy. Microsoft plans to release Vista to business customers on Nov. 30. In 2004, the CommissionÂ fined Microsoft â¬497 millionÂ ($613 million at the time) for abusing its monopoly in the desktop OS market, ordered it to release a version of Windows XP without Windows Media Player software, and mandated it to license and document protocols used by its server products. Microsoft is appealing the decision before the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg.
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Nov. 10, 2004. Microsoft is extending the policy that currently protects some of its business customers from potential legal costs associated with intellectual-property disputes to all of its customers, including consumers.
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European antitrust regulators extend their review of Microsoft-Time Warner deal. Also: Gateway plans to sell desktops at CompUSA & hellip;. Vodafone's Japanese unit headhunts an executive from rival NTT DoCoMo & hellip;. and more.
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(InfoWorld) - MicrosoftÂ has filed an appeal against the latest antitrust fine imposed on it by the European Commission, a Microsoft spokesman said on Tuesday. The Commission, Europe's top competition authority,Â fined the software maker â¬280.5 millionÂ in July failing to comply with its 2004 antitrust ruling. "Microsoft filed the appeal yesterday, as it said it would back in July," said Tom Brookes, Microsoft's spokesman in Brussels. The Court of First Instance in Luxembourg is already considering Microsoft's appeal of the 2004 ruling, which ordered it to sell a version of Windows in Europe without its media player software, release some of its server protocols to competitors, and pay a fine of almost â¬500 million. The court is likely to rule on the first appeal towards the end of this year or in the first half of next year. A conclusion to the latest legal challenge is likely to be years away. Microsoft has claimed from the beginning that it is committed to honoring the Commission's 2004 antitrust ruling. It paid the fine promptly and has offered a second version of Windows XP without Windows Media Player, although sales of that version have been almost nonexistent. The Commission has been more concerned about what it sees as Microsoft's failure to submit the required protocol information. In July its patience ran out. Announcing the â¬280.5 million fine, the European Commissioner in charge of competition, Neelie Kroes, said the documentation the company had submitted "fell significantly short of what was required". MicrosoftÂ submitted new informationÂ to the Commission shortly after that, which the Commission is still studying. Kroes has said she is confident that Microsoft's "foot-dragging" is over. "They are making constructive efforts now," she said, adding: "It's a shame they didn't do so two years ago." To deter any further deliberate delays in complying with the 2004 ruling, the Commission has increased the future fines for failing to comply. The â¬280.5 million fine was calculated using a daily fine of â¬1.5 million from Dec. 16 last year to June 20, the day on which Microsoft made a more concerted effort to comply, according to the Commission. Meanwhile, European antitrust officials have beenÂ busy studying Windows Vista, the next version of Microsoft's operating system due to go on sale later this year and early next. They are concerned that some new features in Vista may break the same antitrust laws that formed the backbone of the 2004 ruling. Microsoft has warned that Vista's launch could be delayed in Europe due to problems with European regulators.
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The European Commission&#39;s formal objections to the ContentGuard deal centered on the joint control that Microsoft and Time Warner would enjoy over an important player in the digital rights management industry.
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The European Commission plans to open  an in-depth, four-month probe of plans by Microsoft Corp. and  Time Warner Inc. to acquire joint control of U.S. ContentGuard  Holdings Inc., a source close to the situation said on Tuesday.
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Deadline extended while the software maker waits for a ruling in Justice Department's antitrust case.
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European Union regulators yesterday flexed their muscles by ordering an in-depth inquiry into plans by Microsoft and Time Warner to buy one of the world&#39;s leading providers of anti-piracy software.
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The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Microsoft filed formal paperwork Wednesday to extend part of an antitrust judgment against the company for at least two years.
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The European Commission on Friday said it had restarted its review of plans by Microsoft Corp. and Time Warner Inc. to acquire joint control of U.S. ContentGuard Holdings Inc., a maker of anti-piracy software.