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Microsoft to win approval for Skype deal – FT.com

October 9, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Microsoft is set to win Brussels approval for its planned $8.5bn (€5.9bn) acquisition of online telephone service Skype, highlighting the turnround in its long-strained relations with European competition authorities.

Joaquín Almunia, the EU competition commissioner, is to give the green light to the proposed deal without any remedies, in spite of complaints from would-be rivals over Microsoft “bundling” the software with Windows.

The decision to clear the purchase without an in-depth, second-phase investigation will be a relief for Microsoft and will allow the deal to go through without delay.

It follows approval in June from the US Federal Trade Commission, which was satisfied there was sufficient competition from rival online services such as Google Talk to permit the deal to go ahead. Competition reviews are still under way in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia and Taiwan.

via Microsoft to win approval for Skype deal – FT.com.

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E.U. Fines Computer Chip Makers for Price-Fixing | NYTimes.com

May 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment
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The European Union fined a group of computer chip makers €331.3 million, or $421 million, Wednesday for price-fixing in the first-ever settlement of a cartel case in Europe.

Samsung of South Korea, the market leader, received the highest fine, €145.7 million, and Infineon, based in Germany, was second at €56.7 million.

Those amounts were less than they could have been — by about 20 percent for Samsung and about 50 percent for Infineon — partly because of the settlement and partly because of other leniency arrangements. The new procedure allows for reduced fines in exchange for an agreement under which the companies are expected not to appeal the European Commission’s decision to court.

Micron of the United States, which first reported the cartel to authorities in 2002, escaped a fine.

The E.U. Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia said that the new policy was designed to speed up investigations, free up resources to deal with other cases and generally improve the efficiency of its antitrust enforcement.

via E.U. Fines Computer Chip Makers for Price-Fixing – NYTimes.com.

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EU Drops Antitrust Case Against Microsoft

December 16, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Microsoft Corp. got an early Christmas present when the European Commission announced Wednesday that it was dropping its antitrust case against the company.

The commission had charged that Microsoft distorted competition by tying Internet Explorer to Windows. European regulators argued that this tying hindered innovation in the market and created artificial incentives for software developers and content providers to design their products or Web sites primarily for Internet Explorer.

To settle the case, Microsoft promises to offer computer makers and Windows users in Europe the ability to install different Web browsers, and to allow them to turn Internet Explorer on or off. Microsoft also committed to making far-reaching interoperability disclosures.

“Millions of European consumers will benefit from this decision by having a free choice about which web browser they use,” said EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes in a press release. “Such choice will not only serve to improve people's experience of the Internet now but also act as an incentive for web browser companies to innovate and offer people better browsers in the future.”

Microsoft General Counsel Brad Smith in a statement said the company was “pleased with today's decision by the European Commission, which approves a final resolution of several longstanding competition law issues in Europe.”

via EU Drops Antitrust Case Against Microsoft.

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