antitrust

Ballmer on EU, Yahoo

LOS ANGELES--Despite having just been hit with a record fine, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Wednesday that his company is actually in full compliance with European regulatory demands.

"This is not news today," Ballmer said in an interview with CNET News.com. "We are in compliance, they agreed we are in compliance. This is a fine for activities that pre-date the compliance activities that Ms. Kroes talked about last fall. It says there was a past transgression and they assessed a fine for that past transgression."

However, Ballmer stopped short of saying that Microsoft's regulatory … Read more

EU antitrust boss wins my pick in '08 Oscar race

"And next time, don't forget to eat your vegetables--or else!"

The Academy Awards show is over and done with, but European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is making a strong bid to win an Oscar as "Best Supporting Scold."

The EU's regulatory czar has socked Microsoft with an 899 million euro ($1.35 billion) fine for failing to comply with a March 2004 antitrust ruling and for charging "unreasonable" prices to rivals seeking documentation for workgroup servers. In the statement from the European Union, Kroes singled out Microsoft as the first company in … Read more

EU's $1.35 billion fine on Microsoft to do any good?

It's tough to please the European Commission on matters of antitrust. But then, Microsoft hasn't tried very hard.

The Commission just hit Microsoft with a $1.35 billion fine for being "unreasonable" over its proposed patent fee structure:

"Microsoft was the first company in fifty years of EU competition policy that the Commission has had to fine for failure to comply with an antitrust decision," said European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes. "I hope that today's decision closes a dark chapter in Microsoft's record of noncompliance with the Commission's March 2004 decision and that the principles confirmed by the Court of First Instance ruling of September 2007 will govern Microsoft's future conduct."

Now, why would she think that? The Commission has dinged Microsoft before with fines, to no effect. Clearly, it is using the wrong tools or perhaps has the wrong argument. The ironic thing is that Microsoft could reduce its patent fees from its initial 3.87 percent to 0 percent, and it wouldn't affect its business one iota.… Read more

Microsoft is "committed to openness," snickers its general counsel

Wow. Microsoft is nothing if not brazen. When you think of Microsoft you normally don't think of these words, at least not together, yet these words came from Microsoft's general counsel, Brad Smith, in response to Google's complaint that a Microsoft and Yahoo! tie up would be bad for the Internet:

Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet.

Microsoft? Committed to openness? Microsoft has been committed to destroying openness over the years, and Brad Smith has played an integral role in that strategy, defying the US Justice Department and the world's consumer. I think highly of Brad, but I find this guile to be galling in the extreme.

Google is exactly right in calling out Microsoft's cheek:… Read more

Microsoft lashes back at Google

UPDATED: 6 p.m.

Nu-uhhh.

That's a one word summary of Microsoft's statement Sunday rebutting Google's statement earlier in the day that said Microsoft's $44.6 billion bid for Yahoo could raise antitrust concerns.

"The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising," Microsoft lawyer Brad Smith said in a statement. "The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet."

Smith argues that Google already has three-quarters of the paid search market and about … Read more

Google warns on Yahoo-Microsoft

Google's top lawyer has penned a letter outlining a number of concerns it sees if Microsoft's bid for Yahoo goes through.

In the letter, "Yahoo and the future of the Internet," Google chief legal officer David Drummond says that Microsoft's offer "raises troubling questions" given the company's monopolistic past.

"This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another," Drummond said. "It's about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.

Drummond warns that Microsoft could attempt the same things it did … Read more

Report: EC expected to approve Google-DoubleClick deal in February

European regulators are expected to approve Google's proposed acquisition of online ad firm DoubleClick in February despite circulation of a threat assessment report, according to a research note released Thursday by Stifel Nicolaus.

Google was given the go-ahead by U.S. regulators late last year, but it's still waiting for approval from the European Union.

Staff members in the competition department of the European Commission have prepared a draft "Statement of Objection" that assesses how the takeover could pose threats to competition. "It is a necessary, but not sufficient, step in the EC merger review … Read more

Microsoft U.S. consent decree extended two more years

Microsoft will have to put up with another two years of court antitrust oversight, a federal judge ruled on Tuesday.

In her ruling, Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly cited the length of time it has taken Microsoft to get its protocol licensing program up and running as the primary reason she is extending the consent decree, which was due to expire at the end of last year.

"The court's decision in this matter is based upon the extreme and unforeseen delay in the availability of complete, accurate, and useable technical documentation relating to the communications protocols," Kollar-Kotelly said. "… Read more

Yet another Intel antitrust probe

Here we go again. This time it was New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo who ceremoniously launched an investigation into monopolistic practices by Intel.

"Our investigation is focused on determining whether Intel has improperly used monopoly power to exclude competitors or stifle innovation," Cuomo said in a statement.

The competitors in question are AMD, AMD, and of course, AMD.… Read more