eu

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

The European Union gave its official blessing to the union of Acer and Packard Bell on Wednesday.

After reviewing the $48.5 million acquisition of Packard Bell by Taiwan-based Acer, the European Commission (the executive branch of the EU) ruled that the two companies as a combined entity would pose no threat to fair competition in the European PC market.

"The Commission's examination showed that the proposed merger would entail horizontal overlaps for desktops and laptops, both for professionals and consumers, at the EEA (European Economic Area) and national levels," the ruling read. "However, the market … Read more

"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

This post was updated several times, most recently at 7:40 a.m. PST, with additional reporting provided by CNET News.com's Dawn Kawamoto.

European Union regulators on Wednesday fined Microsoft a record 899 million euros, or $1.35 billion, for failing to comply with sanctions.

The fine specifically addresses sanctions over the pricing structure Microsoft had set for licensing of its interoperability protocols and patents.

The pricing issue is the last of three parts of the European Commission's historic March 2004 antitrust order, which called for the software giant to provide complete and accurate interoperability information to … Read more

Correction: this story has been corrected to remove the implication that iTunes sells audio files in formats other than AAC. iTunes did begin selling DRM-free songs earlier this year, but those files are still in the AAC format. Other stores are selling DRM-less MP3s, but not iTunes.

In 1998, the European Commission began investigating Microsoft on grounds that it was illegally using its desktop operating system (OS) monopoly to squeeze into new markets. At some point along the way, RealNetworks complained that Microsoft was repeating its kill-Netscape tactic by bundling the Windows Media player into Windows. In 2004, the EC agreed, … Read more

Yesterday, it seemed like a great thing that Microsoft got swatted by the European Union on antitrust grounds. Today, questions are emerging. The Wall Street Journal has two good articles that deal with the fallout from the ruling. Unfortunately, Microsoft may not be the only one that loses in the judgment.

The first article by Charles Forelle calls out the nebulous standard that may be set by the ruling. Namely, if you win (in the market), you may lose (in court):… Read more

Those crazy types in Brussels. If they're not forcing us all to eat straight bananas or swim in wine lakes, they're slapping tax on our cameras. To be specific, on new digital cameras with a certain level of movie capability.

At the moment, all digital cameras are manufactured outside Europe. They're all imported. All of them. Currently, there's a European Commission-imposed 4.9 percent import tariff on camcorders, but not on cameras, whatever their video-recording abilities.

The EC's Nomenclature Committee (oh, to be a fly on that wall) has cottoned on to this and … Read more