eu

EU charges Microsoft over breach of 'browser ballot' commitments

European antitrust regulators have sent Microsoft a list of objections, charging the software giant with breaching its previous commitment to offer Windows users a choice of Internet browsers.

The formal statement of objections sent to Microsoft today outlines how the company failed to offer a "browser choice" screen to millions of Windows users, which it had agreed to do under a legally binding 2009 settlement with the European Commission.

The Commission said in a statement that it "takes the preliminary view that Microsoft has failed to roll out the browser choice screen with its Windows 7 Service … Read more

EU to Google: Your privacy policy needs to change

European data protection and privacy regulators have warned Google that its new privacy policy shows legal "irregularities" and may not be "in compliance" with European law.

Speaking at a press conference in Paris, representatives from the French data protection authority charged with the investigation, the Commission Nationale de l'Informatique et des Libertes (CNIL), said that users were locked in to Google's new rules and must be given the choice to opt-out of the controversial privacy policy.

The regulators warned Google that the scope of its new privacy policy is "too … Read more

EU will tell Google to change privacy policy tomorrow, report says

The European Union, led by the French data protection commission, will take aim at Google's controversial privacy policy tomorrow, a new report claims.

France's CNIL will hold a press conference tomorrow to charge Google with violating EU law with this year's privacy policy change, the Guardian is reporting today, citing sources. Google's move, which effectively combined all of its privacy policies into one, violates EU law because it doesn't offer an opt-out to customers, the Guardian's sources say.

Google caught heat earlier this year for consolidating its many services under one privacy policy. In … Read more

Europe suffered 51 'severe' communications outages in 2011, study shows

Eleven European countries suffered major communications outages last year, according to a new report by the European Union's top cybersecurity agency.

The report, released today by the European Network and Information Security Agency (ENISA), said that 11 EU member states reported 51 "severe outages" in their countries' communications networks and services during 2011.

The report said that 60 percent of the incidents affected cellular networks or mobile Internet, with the remainder involving services such as fixed phone and internet, messaging and e-mail.

According to ENISA, the main cause of the outages was hardware or software failure, which … Read more

Google offers to brand its own services to fix antitrust concerns

Google may be offering European regulators a new carrot in its effort to sidestep an antitrust suit.

Under a new proposal, Google would label its own in-house services to distinguish them from those of third parties among its search results, according to the Financial Times. The offer is Google's latest attempt to placate European Union regulators who say the search giant is crowding out the rest of the market.

"People familiar" with the proposal told the FT that Google would tag its own maps, stock quotes, airline details, and other information to clearly identify them in its … Read more

Apple's warranty ads should be investigated, EU says

Europe's Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding has written to EU member states asking them to examine the way Apple has been advertising its product warranties, according to Bloomberg.

Reding believes that the iPad and iPhone maker may be not be properly informing customers in the European Union's 27 member states that they're entitled to a minimum two-year warranty for products under European law.

According to a copy of the letter sent to EU ministers and obtained by Bloomberg, Reding wrote:

Apple prominently advertised that its products come with a one-year manufacturer warranty but failed to clearly indicate the … Read more

Europe poised to hit Microsoft over browser choice

The European Commission has reiterated plans to turn the thumbscrews on both Microsoft and Google over antitrust concerns.

European antitrust commissioner Joaquín Almunia said in a speech today in Warsaw that both "world brands" were in the Commission's sights -- Microsoft over its failure to properly offer users a choice of browser, Google over its fears the tech giant "had used its dominance in online search to foreclose advertisers and rivals."

"In the past, we have taken on companies such as Microsoft. To meet one of our concerns, the company pledged to … Read more

Microsoft likely to face hefty EU fine over browser choice 'error'

Europe's antitrust chief has sent the strongest signal yet that Microsoft faces heavy financial penalties after the software giant failed to include a "browser choice" screen for European users in the latest version of Windows 7.

In an interview with the AFP news agency, European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia reportedly said that fault had been admitted and said the European Commission needed to "react," suggesting heavy fines were on the way.

"The fault is there, it has been there for more than a year and it is clear that we need to react," … Read more

EU proceeds with Microsoft probe on browser choice -- report

Bloomberg is reporting European Union antitrust regulators are moving ahead with their investigation of Microsoft's failure to fulfill its obligation to provide users with Web-browser choice.

Bloomberg cited in a September 18 report "two people familiar with the matter" claiming that the EU is preparing a formal complaint.

If true, the news isn't surprising given the European Commission acknowledged back in July 2012 that it had received complaints that Microsoft wasn't providing users with broswer choice. At that point, the EU opened a probe into Microsoft's behavior.

Microsoft admitted quickly it had failed to … Read more