Sirius, XM radio merger passes DoJ hurdle; FCC next

After over a year of waiting, the union of XM Radio and Sirius was blessed by the US Department of Justice. Next up: approval from the FCC, which may come with some strings attached.

March 24, 2008 - 03:10PM CT - by Eric Bangeman

WordPerfect antitrust case greenlighted by the Supreme Court

Novell says WordPerfect failed in the mid-1990s because of Microsoft's refusal to divulge the information needed to bring a Windows 95 version of the once-popular word processing app to market. The Supreme Court has cleared the way for a trial, rejecting Microsoft's attempts to halt the case in its tracks.

March 17, 2008 - 12:18PM CT - by Eric Bangeman

EU clears Google-DoubleClick's $3.1 billion merger

Google will get DoubleClick now that regulators on both sides of the Atlantic have cleared the deal without restrictions.

March 11, 2008 - 10:03AM CT - by Nate Anderson

Antitrust monitors turn their attention to Windows 7

The Technical Committee responsible for monitoring Microsoft's compliance with the recently-extended 2002 antitrust consent decree has turned its attention to Windows 7.

March 10, 2008 - 12:20PM CT - by Eric Bangeman

Why Google finds a Microsoft-Yahoo combination "unnerving"

Google cofounder Sergey Brin tells the Associated Press that the prospect of Yahoo and Microsoft joining forces is "unnerving." With a lot of analysts questioning the wisdom of a merger, it's worth considering why it might make Google nervous.

February 22, 2008 - 12:30PM CT - by John Timmer

EU skeptical on Microsoft's interoperability conversion

The EU has already responded to Microsoft's announcement today on increased support for interoperability, standards, and the open-source ecosystem. Words are good, says the EU, but actions are better.

February 21, 2008 - 01:52PM CT - by Nate Anderson

Opera: Browser market is broken—thanks to Microsoft

Internet Explorer 8 is around the corner with "standards compliant" mode, but there are still certain parties that think Microsoft should do a lot more. Opera is one of them, and has a few tips for Microsoft to "fix" its browser issues.

February 19, 2008 - 10:10PM CT - by Jacqui Cheng

DoJ curious if Total Music will lead to total antitrust

The Department of Justice has reportedly launched an investigation into two major music labels that are backing Total Music, the subsidized subscription service that could offer "free" music to customers.

February 07, 2008 - 09:05PM CT - by Jacqui Cheng

DoJ fits Microsoft for a 2-year oversight leash

Federal court judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly has extended the duration of antitrust sanctions imposed on Microsoft by a 2002 consent decree agreement. The sanctions will now last until November 2009.

January 30, 2008 - 08:34AM CT - by Ryan Paul

Monopolist hunting: EU launches new MSFT antitrust probes

The EU announced a new, far-reaching investigation into Microsoft's competitive practices. The European Commission will look at whether Opera is being squeezed out of the browser market by the Windows/IE tie-in, and whether Microsoft products like Office 2007 offer sufficient interoperability with competing products.

January 14, 2008 - 10:22AM CT - by Eric Bangeman

Intel responds to new antitrust inquiry by New York AG

The New York State Attorney General has announced an antitrust inquiry into Intel's business practices. Intel says it has done nothing wrong, and that the CPU market is behaving like a competitive market.

January 10, 2008 - 01:40PM CT - by Eric Bangeman

Apple lowers UK iTunes prices, points finger at labels

Apple has agreed to lower its prices for music in the UK to match up with those charged across the rest of Europe, which the European Commission hailed as a major step towards a single music market. But Apple isn't going down without the last word against music labels that are still forcing the company to pay more to do business in the UK.

January 09, 2008 - 11:10AM CT - by Jacqui Cheng

Rumors suggest Apple soon to resolve EU pricing issue

According to certain "people familiar with the situation," Apple will soon be announcing the steps it plans to take to resolve an ongoing case involving European iTunes Store pricing.

January 08, 2008 - 03:22PM CT - by Justin Berka

Intel responds to EU antitrust charges

On Monday, Intel sent a formal, written response to the European Commission's charges that the company has violated EU antitrust laws.

January 07, 2008 - 10:50PM CT - by Jon Stokes

Apple antitrust suit alleges monopoly over music, players

Apple is accused of maintaining an illegal monopoly over the online music, video, and digital music player markets in yet another lawsuit.

January 04, 2008 - 12:15PM CT - by Jacqui Cheng

States struggling to keep Microsoft antitrust decree in place

Microsoft can thank Google, Apple, and Mozilla for the strong likelihood that the company will not be subject to additional extensions of the decree. New salvos from the States aren't hitting their target, so most sanctions will expire early in 2008.

January 02, 2008 - 08:46AM CT - by Ryan Paul

Antitrust pact payoff: Samba gets protocols from Microsoft

As a direct result of the EU's antitrust remedies, Microsoft has licensed protocols to Protocol Freedom Information Project the for use by the Samba Project. The payoff will be better interoperability between some Microsoft and third-party products.

December 21, 2007 - 08:39AM CT - by Ryan Paul

US approves Google/DoubleClick deal; EU still deciding

The FTC's antitrust stoplight switched from amber to green this morning as the Commission said it would not seek to block the merger of Google and DoubleClick. Europe may go its own way, however.

December 20, 2007 - 11:35AM CT - by Nate Anderson

Microsoft: plethora of browsers = no basis for Opera gripes

How times have changed: Microsoft defends IE by reminding us just how many web browsers there are to choose from today. There's just one problem: momentum and standards compliance.

December 16, 2007 - 07:09PM CT - by Eric Bangeman

Opera tries to force IE into W3C compliance with EU complaint; Firefox's success may work against it

Opera has filed a complaint with the European Union, accusing Microsoft of violating EU antitrust law by bundling IE with Windows. The browser maker wants Microsoft forced to release a fully standards-compliant version of IE.

December 13, 2007 - 12:05PM CT - by Eric Bangeman