EU expands informal DVD antitrust investigation
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The European Commission has expanded  an informal probe into whether the licensing strategies of two  rival groups of DVD developers are anti-competitive by seeking  information from film studios, the EU executive said.
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The European Union&#39;s head office Wednesday expanded its probe into whether EU governments are illegally requiring that the computers they buy must contain microprocessors made by Intel Corp.
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Case dismissal challenges European copyright law banning code that breaks DVD copy-protection.
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DVDs will be harder to pirate thanks to new copy protection measures by Macrovision.
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The European Commission has opened a probe into Microsoft&#39;s and Time Warner&#39;s plans to buy anti-piracy software manufacturer ContentGuard.
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The European Commission, fresh from a major court victory over Microsoft, launched new antitrust investigations into the software giant on Monday, on suspicion it abused its market dominance.
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Competition authorities in Asia, the European Union and the United States have launched an investigation into manufacturers of flat-screen televisions and computer monitors, who are suspected of having reached an illegal pricing agreement, officials said.
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BRUSSELS, Belgium -- The European Commission said Tuesday it has asked several Hollywood studios to explain why they have chosen either the Blue-ray disc or HD DVD format for movie discs to see if they are breaking EU rules that bar companies from shutting out rivals.
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European commission opens two new investigations into suspected abuse by the software group of its dominant market position
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A European Union probe fueled by concerns over how long Google stores user information has widened to include all Internet search engines.
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The EU is concerned that deals struck by Hollywood studios with HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc backers involve anticompetitive activity.
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BRUSSELS, Belgium  -- European antitrust regulators said Monday they have extended their review of a deal between Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) and Time Warner Inc...
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(InfoWorld) - The European Union's antitrust regulator has asked Hollywood studios to turn over information about their negotiations with the developers of high-definition DVD formats, giving them until the end of this week to respond. The European Commission is concerned that exclusive deals struck by some studios with the backers of either the HD DVD or Blu-ray Disc formats may be a sign of anticompetitive activity in the industry. HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc are competing for the attention of movie studios, which are increasingly releasing their films in high-definition format alongside the regular DVDs carrying standard-definition versions of the films. The Commission began looking for evidence of a possible infringement of E.U. antitrust regulations on its own initiative: there have been no complaints from companies in the industry, said Audrey Lemonnier, press officer for the cabinet of European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes. The Commission wrote to a number of major studios in the first half of June, asking them for information about their dealings with the technology developers, Lemonnier said Tuesday. She would not say which studios received the letters, or how many were sent. The studios have until Friday to respond, she said. If the studios' answers give the Commission cause for doubt, it may launch a full investigation, she said. Film studios Twentieth Century Fox and Walt Disney release their high-definition content exclusively on Blu-ray Disc, although another member of the Blu-ray Disc Association (BDA), Warner Bros. Entertainment, has a foot in both camps: It also releases films on HD DVD. Blu-ray Disc also has the backing of Sony, which uses a Blu-ray Disc player in its PlayStation 3 game console, and computer makers such as Apple, Dell, and Hewlett-Packard. HD DVD has won the backing of Universal Studios, which releases high-definition movies exclusively in HD DVD format, and Microsoft, which uses it in its Xbox 360 game console. Over a million Blu-ray Discs have been sold to date, and 70 percent of high-definition video discs sold in the first quarter were in the Blu-ray format, according to the BDA. Anticompetitive activity can ultimately harm consumers, Lemonnier said. But consumers might prefer to see one format dominate the market, as VHS swept away videotape rival Betamax in an earlier battle over formats. As long as the two compete, and film studios choose one or the other, movie buffs are condemned to buy two players, or be unable to watch some films at home. Representatives for Blu-ray Disc backer Sony and HD DVD supporter Toshiba, and for the DVD Forum, which promotes the HD DVD format, all declined to comment on the Commission's action, saying that it was a matter for the Hollywood studios alone. The studios could not immediately be reached.
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COMMENTARY: The European Union (UN)&#39;s European Commission (EC) has opened yet another probe into Microsoft&#39;s business practices.
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Competition watchdogs from the European Commission widen their anti-competition probe into chipmaker Intel.
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The European Commission, the antitrust arm of the European Union, has ordered Microsoft to offer a version of Windows without a bundled media player and to disclose more technical information to its rivals on a temporary, or interim, basis until the
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The European Commission has announced that it is to investigate the recent purchase by Microsoft and Time Warner of ContentGuard, a specialist in digital rights management.