EC official on Microsoft case asks to change teams
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(InfoWorld) - A European Commission official due to take charge next month of theÂ antitrust case against MicrosoftÂ has been offered a job by a Brussels-based consultancy that lists the software vendor among its clients, the Commission and Microsoft said Thursday. Henri Piffaut, deputy head of the unit handling the long-running antitrust case, has asked for leave from his civil servant position in the Commission on personal grounds, said the Commission's competition spokesman Jonathan Todd. "The situation is fluid. The Commission hasn't responded to the request yet and for the time being he remains an employee here," he said. Piffaut is due to take over the top job in the unit next month from Cecilio Madero Villarejo, who has led it for the past seven years. He joined the unit as deputy head earlier this year. Despite the hiccup over replacing Villarejo, the antitrust case against Microsoft is unlikely to be affected by Piffaut's request to leave, Todd said. "I can't see this causing any delays," he said. If Piffaut is denied leave, he would have to give up his career at the Commission. He could also be prevented from working on cases he was linked to while serving as an antitrust official at the Commisison, the European Union's executive body. Piffaut has been asked to join LECG, an international firm of consultants, to head up a team of economists working on merger cases in the Brussels office. LECG wasn't immediately available to comment. Microsoft's spokesman in Brussels, Tom Brookes, said he had heard about Piffaut's possible job change but declined to comment further. Four years ago Microsoft hired Detlef Eckert, a senior Commission official in the information society department, whose job included overseeing the antitrust investigation being conducted by his colleagues in the competition department. Eckert was not bound by the tough conflict of interest rules that apply to antitrust officials.
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The Department of Justice and state attorneys general are raising questions about changes Microsoft wants to make in the schedule set out for its antitrust compliance.
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Incoming European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso today defended two of his under-fire team. Euro MPs questioned the appointment of Italian Rocco Buttiglione as a Commissioner after he said homosexuality was a sin.
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Amid reports that the European Commission is poised to approve Oracle&#39;s proposed takeover of PeopleSoft, a spokesperson for the European Union said Friday that the EU&#39;s competition commissioner, Mario Monti, would like to finish the case before he leaves
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The judge in Microsoft's appeal of the antitrust measures imposed by the European Commission questioned the wisdom of those moves as the hearing wound up.
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The embattled new EU Commission chief tells the BBC he might make several changes to his team.
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Opinion: Microsoft&#39;s global battles, such as its appeals hearing that&#39;s about to start in Luxembourg, should teach regulators that they need to address the company&#39;s behavior before it creates problems.
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The European Commission (EC) has launched another investigation into Microsoft - this time over plans to take over an anti-piracy software supplier.
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The European Commission turned up the  pressure on Microsoft  on Thursday, warning the U.S.  software giant of new fines and accusing it of serial defiance  of an antitrust ruling made nearly three years ago.
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A top European court has summoned all the parties involved in the European Union&#39;s antitrust case against Microsoft to a meeting in Luxembourg on Thursday after two prominent opponents of Microsoft withdrew from the proceedings, a court official has said.
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A judge in a major EU anti-trust case against Microsoft calls a sudden meeting after high-profile departures.
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The judge deciding whether to suspend the European Union's antitrust order against software giant Microsoft Corp. has called a meeting for this week after two key backers of the EU's decision pulled out of the case, officials said Tuesday.
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Incoming EU Commission chief Barroso finalises a new team, needed to settle a damaging row with MEPs.
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The U.S. Department of Justice and state officials want more information about changes that Microsoft says it needs to make in schedule for releasing Vista documentation.
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In an unusual move, US Assistant Attorney General for Antitrust Thomas Barnett issued a statement earlier this week, following the European Court of First Instance (CFI) decision in the Microsoft matter, politely but clearly dissenting from the Court's decision and implying the American antitrust system is more evolved.
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The European Court of First Instance judge called an unexpected hearing to reconsider the evidence that can be used in the Microsoft antitrust case.
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A Luxembourg-based European courton Wednesday turned down an appeal by Microsoft to delay sanctions imposed on the software giant by the European Commission (EC), the executive arm of the European Union (EU).