What’s the difference between European Commission competition watchdog Neelie Kroes and Oracle CEO Larry Ellison? Kroes isn’t losing $100 million a month on Sun Microsystems. Much as Ellison would like to blame the European Commission for yesterday’s bloodletting at Sun, responsibility lies squarely with Oracle–at least, according to Competition Commissioner Kroes.
Microsoft’s proposed antitrust concessions, particularly its offer to give European computer users a choice of Web browsers, appear to have gone over well with the European Commission. This morning, the EC announced a market test of the browser ballot feature Microsoft plans to include in Windows 7.
Approved without incident by Sun shareholders in July and the U.S. Justice Department in August, Oracle’s planned $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun Microsystems seemed poised to easily pass muster with European regulators as well. Sadly for Oracle, that’s not how things have played out. Citing “serious concerns” about the deal’s effect on competition in the market for databases, the European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation into it.
Ouch. European regulators slapped Intel with an antitrust fine and, as expected, it’s a large one–a record $1.45 billion, which dwarfs even the $1.2 billion fine levied against Microsoft in 2008. The largest ever assessed for monopoly abuse, the fine follows charges that Intel abused its market dominance by illegally inducing PC manufacturers to use its chips over those of rival AMD.
Christine Varney, head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division, famously referred to Microsoft’s monopoly as “so last century.” In her mind, it’s Google we need to watch out for. “[Microsoft is] not the problem,” she said. “I think we’re going to continue to see a problem, potentially, with Google.” And apparently European Commissioner for Competition Neelie Kroes agrees.
“Talk is cheap,” EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes once said. “Flouting the rules is expensive.” Truer words, especially for Microsoft, which may soon face significant penalties abroad for bundling its Internet Explorer Web browser and Windows OS.
If Microsoft (MSFT) believed its “new” commitment to interoperability would curry favor with the European Commission it was mistaken. Sorely mistaken.
This morning the EC slapped the software giant with another $1.35 billion in fines for failing to comply with its 2004 antitrust order. “Microsoft was the first company in 50 years of EU competition policy [...]
Looks like Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer may have a shot at a second dinner date with EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes.
Less than three months after agreeing to comply with key elements of the European Commission’s 2004 antitrust order against it, the company is facing new accusations of monopoly abuse. Norway’s Opera Software ASA said today [...]
Looks like European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes is going to go down in history as the person who finally humbled Microsoft. This morning Microsoft admitted defeat in its nine-year battle with the European Commission, agreeing to comply with key elements of the EC’s 2004 antitrust order against it.
“At the time the Court of First [...]
John Paczkowski has been poking fun at the tech industry and the personalities that drive it since 1997. From 1999 to 2007, he wrote the award-winning tech news Web log Good Morning Silicon Valley for the San Jose Mercury News, Silicon Valley's daily newspaper.
Here is a statement of my ethics and coverage policies. It is more than most of you want to know, but, in the age of suspicion of the media, I am laying it all out.
Best video mashup ever.
A Facebook Memorial
Wow.
Worth it for the Rickrolling photo alone.
Excellent.
Flughumor!
… you vacuous, toffee-nosed, malodorous perverts
Stephen Fry and zoologist Mark Carwardine meet the kakapo — a fat, flightless and very randy rare parrot.
Spectacular in the bellowing Russian sailor sense of the word …
“If you spell something wrong on your insurance claim, do you really deserve surgery? I don’t think so …”
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