Microsoft Appoints New Anti-Antitrust Point Man
	Starting back in 2004 with a 462 million Euro fine imposed against Microsoft by the European Union Antitrust Commission, the Redmond giant has consistently found itself losing battle after battle in the Eu anti-monopoly arena. In early 2008, the relationship between the company and the EU culminated with a $1.35 billion financial penalty motivated by Microsoft's failure to comply with antitrust rulings. Even before the new record fin ... [read more >>]
	30 May 2008, 11:14GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Microsoft Appeal Against 899 Million Euro Fine a Long Shot
	Microsoft made a new move at the end of the past week designed to take the European Union financial penalties saga one step further. The Redmond company has had a rough ride in the European arena cumulating a total of $2.5 billion worth of fines, but it has not hesitated to raise the stakes in its apparently continuous face-off with the EU Antitrust Commission by lodging an appeal against the latest financial penalty issued on February 27, ... [read more >>]
	12 May 2008, 05:33GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Galileo Test Spacecraft Prepares for Launch
	The second demonstrator spacecraft for Galileo, Giove-B, has been scheduled by the European Space Agency to launch somewhere in late April, in order to test key technologies to be used in the Galileo project. The main goal the European Union is hoping to achieve with the launch of the Galileo spacecraft is to create a satellite that would compete with the American Global Positioning Satellite and reduce the EU's dependency on the GPS ... [read more >>]
	10 March 2008, 09:32GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Microsoft, Read It and Weep: DoubleClick Deal to Be Approved!
	Whatever hopes Microsoft might have still had, after Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick was approved in Australia and the United States, should have died by now. As a matter of fact, the Redmond-based company could have reached resignation after the deal was given the OK in the US, because historically there hasn’t been any case of EU regulators ruling against a decision made by their counterparts across the Atlantic. The Fin ... [read more >>]
	06 March 2008, 09:25GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Criminal Penalties for Downloaders in the EU
	If the European Parliament’s initiative to criminalize copyright infringement is going to happen, it will most definitely make Internet users think twice about downloading something off the web. Member states of the EU have been asked to press ahead with the plan and ministers from each country were advised to approve it. Before it takes effect, the proposed EU directive must be approved by the Council of Ministers, but with t ... [read more >>]
	22 February 2008, 09:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Privacy Problems Addressed by the EU
	By the next meeting of the working party of EU regulators dealing with online privacy, there will be some guidelines ready to be set down. I’m not sure news could get any worse for Microsoft and Yahoo!, the decision to be made will affect them directly in the core of their search platforms, based on cookies and private preferences and data being stored. I left Google out of the ‘worst news for’ lineup because the EU regulator ... [read more >>]
	11 February 2008, 17:41GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Firefox Is Slaughtering Internet Explorer
	Stuck at a negligible share of the browser market, Opera has filed a formal complaint with the European Union Antitrust Commission pointing to the bundling of Internet Explorer into Windows, as the reason for what it referred to as a lack of consumer choice. But Firefox seems to have no problems growing from under Internet Explorer and, furthermore, dislodging large chunks of IE's audience and converting them to open source. In Europe ... [read more >>]
	30 January 2008, 13:02GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

European Developers Demand Government Support
	Six members of the European Game Developers Federation, founded just one year ago, have signed a "Video Game Manifesto". With this, they are hoping that the government ministers all over the European Union will understand the cultural impact ... [read more >>]
	10 December 2007, 02:42GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

One Million Hits Due To YouTube Deal
	A few months ago, the European Commission decided to sign a deal with the online video sharing service YouTube in order to publish clips about people, environment and culture. Today, EUtube, the YouTube channel, reached the 1,000,000 views milestone which is pretty amazing if we think it attracted such an impressive audience in four months. Remember the first clip published on the channel? "Film Lovers Will Love This!" ... [read more >>]
	16 October 2007, 09:55GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

.ASIA – The New Internet Domain
	DotAsia, a Hong Kong organization, finally received the OK to set up the .asia domain which will represent the new suffix when it comes to Internet websites. This new domain is pretty important because the .eu and the .us extensions already grew up a lot and the web consumers were looking for .asia domains in order to include their pages into their local channel. AFP reports that new domains are available only for companies and g ... [read more >>]
	10 October 2007, 04:57GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

EU Security Act – Nobody Cares
	As you already know, most security problems come from people ignoring some things that shouldn’t be ignored. More than that, a lot of users and companies don’t care about cyber-security because they see the same attitude in people around them. It’s like a vicious circle of some sort – but someone needs to break it, to set an example. I would normally expect all people to take attitude regarding any type of security, not just the ... [read more >>]
	26 September 2007, 05:50GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Linux to Finally Kill Windows in Europe?
	In the future, Linux might very well have a fighting chance on European soil, against Windows. Following Microsoft's Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Brad Smith did not rush to anticipate a worry free outcome for the Redmond company over the pond. Although the dismissal of the company's appeal by the Court of First Instance of Luxembourg, was a clear indication of the full support of both the European Commission's ... [read more >>]
	24 September 2007, 10:21GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

What’s New in Microsoft Land: 17th – 21st September 2007
	The EU/Microsoft case has finally ended and, even if the Redmond software giant refuses to admit that it doesn’t like the decision, the company struggles to remain fairplay and appreciates the court’s judgment. In a statement rolled out on Monday, Brad Smith, Microsoft Corp. Senior Vice President and General Counsel, said the decision is fair although the Redmond company did anything it was possible to comply with the &l ... [read more >>]
	23 September 2007, 12:56GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

EU: Microsoft Down! Next Please!
	Microsoft's presence on the European market has ended up costing the company €497 million as a consequence of an antitrust ruling passed by the European Commission antitrust regulators in March 2004. The EU decision was almost entirely upheld by the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg and the financial penalties supported in their totality, marking a resounding defeat for Microsoft, found guilty of abusing its Windows monop ... [read more >>]
	21 September 2007, 10:24GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Full Windows Versions, or Stripped Down Releases, on the European Battleground
	The European Court of First Instance’s judgment, in the European Commission vs. Microsoft, upheld the ruling passed in March 2004 against the Redmond company for abusing its Windows near-monopoly in order to gain an unfair advantage on the digital media player and server work group markets. However, the conclusion delivered at the debut of this week by the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg, had only a superficial impact on Microsoft. T ... [read more >>]
	19 September 2007, 09:34GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Microsoft in Europe – The Aftermath
	Yesterday, the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg upheld the European Commission's March 2004 antitrust decision against Microsoft, finding that the company had abused its dominant market position with its Windows client. Back in 2004, the EU antitrust regulators ruled that the Redmond company had leveraged its Windows monopoly in order to push up its share on the work group server operating systems and for media players markets. B ... [read more >>]
	18 September 2007, 09:29GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

What Does Microsoft's Lost Antitrust Battle in Europe Mean for Windows Vista?
	The European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg announced that it was upholding the European Commission’s decision on Microsoft's abuse of its dominant market position with the Windows operating system initially delivered in March 2004. Losing the antitrust battle with the European regulators has not managed to turn the Redmond company away from Europe. Microsoft will be forced to deliver the interoperability protocols for its work ... [read more >>]
	17 September 2007, 12:29GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Microsoft to EU: Thank You for Fining Us 497 Million Euros! Thank You!
	Microsoft reacted immediately to the ruling of the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg that dismissed its appeal and decided to support the 23 March 2004 antitrust decision of the European Commission against the Redmond company. The Court underlined the fact that the EU antitrust regulators were right in assessing both the gravity and the period in which Microsoft had abused its Windows monopoly. Additionally, the 497 million eu ... [read more >>]
	17 September 2007, 07:30GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Microsoft Gets Crushed in Europe
	This week debuted with a bang of bad news for the Redmond company from over the pond. The antitrust authorities in Europe have won their face-off with Microsoft. Today, September 17, the European Court of First Instance in Luxembourg (Grand Chamber) found that Microsoft abused its dominant market position leveraging the Windows operating system’s monopoly as an unfair advantage over its rivals. The Court of First Instance rejecte ... [read more >>]
	17 September 2007, 05:03GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Monopolist Practices Could Cost Microsoft $1 Billion
	Microsoft could end up paying financial penalties of in excess of $1 billion because of its monopolist business practices on the European market. On September 17, the 13-judge Grand Chamber of the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg is scheduled to rule over the March 2004 European antitrust case. Microsoft faces two separate fines over the pond. The first one is dating back to three years ago and it amounts to no less than $685.4 millio ... [read more >>]
	11 September 2007, 07:24GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Google's Users Questioned by the EU
	The EU investigation over the DoubleClick acquisition by the super giant Google continues and it is now involving even the customers of the Mountain View company. As you might have heard, Google announced a long time ago that it wants to acquire DoubleClick, one of the top solutions when it comes to the advertising platforms currently available on the market. The search giant sustained that it is going to pay no less than $3.1 bi ... [read more >>]
	07 September 2007, 09:14GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

EU Puts Eurotariff Non-Compliants on Website of Shame
	The deadline for carriers to adopt the European Union's regulation on the Eurotariff ended in July. Non-compliant companies will be posted online by the end of the week as to make their subscribers aware of the rights that they ripped of. All roaming service providers ... [read more >>]
	03 August 2007, 06:17GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The European Union Cooks New YouTube Laws
	The European Union announced that it cooks a new set of rules for broadcasting and on-demand content, a category that also includes Google Video and the popular online video sharing service YouTube, also owned by the Mountain View company. According to Patricia Moll, European Policy Manager, the EU split the content in two parts: television ("linear") and television-like on-demand content ("non-linear"). Obviously, the ... [read more >>]
	17 July 2007, 03:34GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Google under EU Investigation
	Google's DoubleClick acquisition caused a lot of problems for the Mountain View company and they are not ended because the European Union will analyze the transaction soon. The entire case was started by numerous companies that required the US regulators to investigate the acquisition because Google might infringe the antitrust laws as DoubleClick was regarded as a powerful competitor for its already-released advertising pla ... [read more >>]
	09 July 2007, 05:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Soft Porn Allowed on YouTube
	The European Union made its debut on the popular video service YouTube by uploading a "soft porn" clip to promote the European cinema. The video, currently with 283.770 views and 559 users who rated it as favorite, shows several sex scenes from multiple European movies. Under the title "Film lovers will love this!", the clip brings another type of videos on YouTube, the video sharing service that is very sever ... [read more >>]
	03 July 2007, 09:51GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The European Commission Is Interested in Google's YouTube
	The European Commission launched a brand new channel on the popular online video sharing service, in a move meant to keep the users up-to-date with the latest efforts of the organization. According to Eux.tv, the channel already contains 50 videos including cartoons and other programs, all of them being a part of the archives. The recently-created channel is very similar to the other ones released for other partnerships such as B ... [read more >>]
	29 June 2007, 10:02GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

EU Roaming Rules Take Action on June 30
	The EU Roaming Regulation will be published in the Official Journal at the end of this week. With this, the legal aspects of roaming services across the EU will be applied starting with the 30th of June. Almost a year ago, the European Commission started working on ways to reduc ... [read more >>]
	26 June 2007, 04:26GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Google in Trouble, EU Wants More Investigations
	After the recent complaints concerning the privacy of the best search engine on the Internet, Google kept the first page of the newspapers, and the European Union decided that it's the time to get involved into the business and stay in touch with all the search engines. According to iTWire, the European Union's Article 29 Data Protection Working Party contains valuable information about the officials' plans to interact with ... [read more >>]
	22 June 2007, 05:23GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The EU Is Proud of Google
	Following the recent concerns about the Google privacy, the Mountain View company was urged to roll out some improvements and modify the privacy guidelines available for the clients. After numerous changes were already applied, the EU Commission sustained that Google evolved well and there are signs of a huge improvement. As you might know, the Mountain View company was placed on the last position in a top concerning the users� ... [read more >>]
	13 June 2007, 10:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Apple Yet to Respond to European Commission
	While all has been quiet when referring to the problems Apple has been having with the European Commission, things are about to heat up again. Despite Apple’s deadline ending midnight today, so far the Cupertino Company has not said a peep. The European Commission’s inquiry started on the 3rd of April, in order to look into concerns regarding the pricing of iTunes Store songs. Besides Apple, the commission sent 'statement ... [read more >>]
	04 June 2007, 09:58GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The European Commission Attacks Google
	Although Google is not quite familiar with the European Commission, the search giant recently received a letter from the privacy body of EU that criticizes Google practices related to the privacy of the users. According to MarketWatch, the letter was signed by the authorities from 27 countries, all of them members of the European Union, criticizing the company for the users' privacy in certain locations. It seems like anothe ... [read more >>]
	19 April 2007, 07:42GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

EU to Force Microsoft to Give Windows Away for Free
	Microsoft has learned over the past few years that Europe is a whole different ball-park, where it is only a guest. However, nothing has prepared Microsoft for what the EU has in store for Windows. Back in August 2007, Microsoft submitted a Protocol Pricing proposal to the European Commission. Six months later, the EU Commission issued a response under the form of a Statement of Objections that targeted the royalties Microsoft w ... [read more >>]
	05 April 2007, 03:25GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

European Commission's Focus Is on the Labels, Not Apple
	While last week, the EU sent Apple and the major record companies formal charges, a recent statement clarifies the light in which Apple is viewed. While the iTunes Store does indeed prohibit the user from buying songs from other countries where they may be cheaper, which is a breach of the common European market, the European Commission understands that Apple had little choice in the matter. "Our current view is that thi ... [read more >>]
	04 April 2007, 08:37GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Apple and Music Labels Face European Commission Antitrust Probe
	While things are definitely moving forward for Apple when it comes to interoperability and DRM restrictions, the company still has issues to deal with in Europe. After Brussels issued formal charges alleging that the deals that underpin the sale of music through the hugely popular iTunes platform violate competition rules, Apple and several of the major music labels are looking at a European Commission antitrust probe. Last we ... [read more >>]
	03 April 2007, 05:55GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Antitrust EU Official Questions Apple iTunes-iPod Competition Concerns
	It is no secret that Apple has faced criticism in Europe regarding the close ties between its music player and content distribution platform, and the company has been asked repeatedly to take steps to ensure better compatibility between its offerings and those of rivals. Earlier this month, before clarifying she was not suggesting legal action should be taken, European Consumer Affairs Commissioner, Meglena Kuneva, raised the ... [read more >>]
	28 March 2007, 03:53GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Rotten European Apple
	I guess even the huge Apple fans agree with me as I ask the following question, taken from a recent statement made in Berlin on Sunday: “Do you think it's fine that a CD plays in all CD players but that an iTunes song only plays in an iPod?” These words belong to Meglena Kuneva, the European Union consumer chief and were addressed somehow directly to the computer and software giant. Now, everybody knows that Apple had ... [read more >>]
	12 March 2007, 11:29GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia