eu

Opera executive praises EU move

In a case of convenient timing, Opera Software's top developer happened to be in CNET's office just after Microsoft disclosed that the European Union has objected to Microsoft's bundling of a Web browser into Windows.

"We think it is right of the EU, for the sake of the consumers, to be concerned about someone potentially misusing their competitive power," Chief Development Officer Christen Krogh told CNET News. The EU action stems from a 2007 complaint by Opera.

Krogh said the Internet is too important for consumer choice to be limited. Developers of software and services, … Read more

EU notice to Microsoft re browser

Note: Below is the text of a press release from the European Commission regarding Microsoft's tying of Internet Explorer to the Windows operating system.

Brussels, 16th January 2009

Antitrust: Commission confirms sending a Statement of Objections to Microsoft on the tying of Internet Explorer to Windows

The European Commission can confirm that it has sent a Statement of Objections (SO) to Microsoft on 15th January 2009. The SO outlines the Commission's preliminary view that Microsoft's tying of its web browser Internet Explorer to its dominant client PC operating system Windows infringes the EC Treaty rules on abuse … Read more

EU regulating Microsoft like it's 1999

Updated 3:20 p.m. with comment from antitrust attorney.

The European Union's new complaint against Microsoft really takes one back. Like, a decade or so.

Its objection--that bundling a browser into the operating system violates antitrust law--is the same one that U.S. regulators raised in 1996.

The newest allegations stem from a 2007 complaint by Norway's Opera that Microsoft was hurting competition by including Internet Explorer in Windows and by not better adhering to Web standards.

What is most odd about the EU taking up the issue is its timing. The EU spent years going after … Read more

Italy, not biofuels hold back EU energy deal

When it comes to European Union efforts toward a climate action plan, the devil, it turns out, is in the details.

All of the member states of the EU are willing to commit their countries to draw 20 percent of their energy from renewable resources, reduce CO2 emissions by 20 percent, and become 20 percent more energy efficient by 2020. That overall goal was agreed upon in March 2007.

In January 2008, the agreement was refined with more details including action plans in different categories for countries to follow. One of these demanded that 10 percent of all road transport … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 859: Don't get your flops in a watt

Rafe and Molly square off over the reuse of air conditioning technology, the fail whale sinks a deal between Facebook and Twitter, Gmail is cracked, and an enterprising astronaut creates the ultimate in must-have space tech: a zero-G coffee cup.

Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 859

Twitter rebuffs a Facebook poke? http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10106391-2.html

Gmail exploit may allow attackers to forward e-mail http://news.cnet.com/8301-1009_3-10106275-83.html http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/breaking-gmail-security-flaw-more-domains-get-stollen/

EU strikes down French “3 strikes” copyright infringement law http://tech.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=08/11/23/1952248

Has … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 852: Tempest in a Twitter teapot

Turns out a lot of people are all too happy to hand over their password to some unknown Web site just to find out if they're popular. Oh, people. When will you learn? Also, Microsoft Live gets a purpose, Valleywag loses its teeth, the BlackBerry Storm gets a release date, and we're all going to become (a) elves in the Wrath of the Lich King or (b) total buffsters on the new EA Sports Active Wii game. Listen now: Download today's podcast Episode 852

BlackBerry Storm gets release date http://www.boygeniusreport.com/2008/11/13/verizon-announces-blackberry-storm-release-date-november-21st-199/… Read more

Scientists say 1 in 10 iPod users could go deaf

If you spend more than an hour a day in deep intimacy with your iPod, your Zune, or some other MP3 machine, a group of important scientists would like you to turn it down and listen to them.

The EU's Scientific Committee on emerging health risks, which is normally concerned with noise in factories and the British Parliament, performed a study of MP3 usage.

The committee members' findings left them with a strange ringing feeling. They concluded that an hour's iPod usage a day for five years might make as many as 1 in 10 listeners deaf.

The problem, the committee believes, … Read more

Buzz Out Loud 825: Go toward the light...It's got Wi-Fi!

Apologies in advance for the slightly dirty word toward the end of the show. Now you'll all listen, won't you? In other news, Ford wants to make sure your kids don't speed, that they wear their seat belts, and that they intensely hate your guts. And Google wants to make sure you don't send mail when you're too drunk to do math. Listen now: Download today's podcast EPISODE 825

A.M.D. to split into two operations http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/07/technology/07chip.html http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-10059766-92.html

Warner … Read more

EU directive could change iPhone battery design

The European Union is considering a requirement that all cell phone batteries be easily replaceable, which might cause a problem for Apple's iPhone.

AppleInsider spotted that particular directive in an article in New Electronics, a U.K. trade publication, on the latest set of computer-industry regulations under consideration in Europe. The EU is thinking about enacting a new directive on batteries similar to its RoHS (Reduction of Hazardous Substances) directives from a few years back that forced the computer industry to eliminate harmful chemicals and/or materials from its manufacturing processes.

The "New Batteries Directive" would require … Read more