EU Extends Review of Microsoft Deal
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Software giant Microsoft Corp. and the media and entertainment powerhouse Time Warner Inc. ran into fresh trouble with the European Union on Wednesday as antitrust regulators ordered an in-depth probe of their deal to collaborate in making anti-piracy software.
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The European Commission confirmed on  Friday it would debate antitrust sanctions against U.S.  software giant Microsoft at a regular meeting on Wednesday.
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The European Commission says it will go forward with its antitrust case against Microsoft, despite the software giant&#39;s recent settlements, which led to Novell and the Computer and Communications
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Microsoft MSFT.O raised the   possibility on Thursday that it might delay the introduction of   its new Vista Windows operating system in Europe, depending on   antitrust requirements of the European Commission.
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The National Health Service (NHS) has extended a software licensing deal with Microsoft for nine years - three times longer than its current agreement.
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(InfoWorld) - 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. The extension of U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's November 2002 antitrust settlement would give Microsoft more time to complete work on technical documentation for licensees of its communications protocols. The DOJ and Microsoft filed a joint request Wednesday for Kollar-Kotelly to approve the extension, which the DOJ proposed in May. The antitrust order had been scheduled to expire in November 2007. If the judge approves the two-year extension, the DOJ and 17 state plaintiffs in the antitrust case can ask for an additional three-year extension if they still have complaints about Microsoft documentation. Microsoft has said it will not oppose a second extension. Under the settlement, Microsoft is required to license the communication protocols to other IT vendors interested in developing server software that works with Microsoft's Windows operating system. But as of May, hundreds of bugs in the technical documentation remained. A technical committee working with the antitrust plaintiffs identified 575 bugs in the technical documentation as of Feb. 8. By March 16, Microsoft had whittled the bugs identified by the technical committee down to 307, but the number of high-priority bugs grew from 68 to 71 in that period. By May 8, the number of high-priority bugs with a 60-day deadline grew to 79, and the total number of bugs identified by the technical committee was 414.
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European Union regulators said Microsoft Corp. handed in on time to meet a Thursday deadline information about its Windows operating software that should help other software companies.
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(InfoWorld) - The European Commission has again criticized Microsoft's response to a 2004 antitrust ruling, opening up the possibility of further fines for the company. In March 2004,Â the Commission fined MicrosoftÂ and ordered it to provide its competitors with information allowing them to develop workgroup server software interoperable Windows desktop operating system. It thenÂ fined the company againÂ last July for failing to provide that information on time. The Commission has sent Microsoft another statement of objections, saying it considers the interoperability information Microsoft has offered is still incomplete, said Jonathan Todd, Commission spokesman on competition issues. In addition, Microsoft is charging its competitors too much for that information: it does not justify the price tag put on it because it is not innovative, he said. Microsoft has four weeks in which to respond to the statement of objections, after which it may face further daily fines for noncompliance with the antitrust ruling. Even as Microsoft and the Commission dispute whether Microsoft is in compliance with the ruling, another court is considering whether Microsoft should have to comply at all. The European Court of First Instance, in Luxembourg, is still considering Microsoft's appeal against the Commission's March 2004 ruling that Microsoft abused its monopoly in desktop operating systems to exploit markets for workgroup server and media player software. At that time, the Commission ordered Microsoft to pay a fine of â¬497 million (then around $600 million), ship a version of Windows without media player software, and publish the server software interoperability information disputed in today's announcement. (Peter Sayer, in Paris, contributed to this report.)
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BRUSSELSâRisking another transatlantic tussle over Microsoft Corp., European Union antitrust regulators said yesterday they were investigating whether the software giant&#39;s deal with media conglomerate Time Warner Inc.
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Microsoft said that it might restart settlement talks with European Union regulators after Europe's second-highest court ruled on whether penalties should be suspended.
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U.S. regulators are satisfied, but European Union continues to study Vista specs.
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A European Union judge said he will continue to take into account testimony from former complainants in the EU&#39;s antitrust case against Microsoft, even though they had withdrawn support for the case.
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Just when Microsoft thought it was safe to do business in the European Union, the government has opened a second complaint against the software giant.
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The European Commission warned  Microsoft  on Thursday it faced further fines in its  long-running antitrust battle with Brussels, this time for  seeking unreasonable prices from software makers for vital  data.
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Updated competition guidelines mean more outsourcing deals in Europe may have to go to the European Commission for approval.
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Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates said Tuesday the software giant was dedicated to cooperation with the European Union despite the complications created by the landmark EU ruling and record fine against the company.
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THE European Commission yesterday insisted its antitrust case against Microsoft remained strong, despite the withdrawal of two key supporters, on the eve of a crucial meeting with the judge