Archive for the ‘competition’ tag
Brees v. NFL
Who knew quarterback Drew Brees was not only one of best QBs in the league, but an antitrust law scholar?
[From Saints' quarterback Drew Brees weighs in on NFL's Supreme Court case - washingtonpost.com]
Windows to Add Mandated Browser “Choice Screen” in March 2010
The European Commission details the new, compulsory “Choice Screen” browser selection update to Microsoft Windows. From the Press Release:
What is the Choice Screen and how can people get it?
Microsoft has agreed with the European Commission to offer Microsoft Windows users a Choice Screen giving them an easy choice about which web browser they want to use.
The Choice Screen will be provided to those European Windows users (currently more than 100 million) who have Microsoft’s web browser Internet Explorer set as their default web browser.
Until now, Microsoft has provided its web browser together with its Windows software, whilst the main competing web browsers generally have to be downloaded from the internet. This means that often other browsers do not get installed on consumers’ computers.
The Choice Screen will take the form of a Windows update. The update will be installed automatically for users who have opted for automatic installation of updates via Windows Update so they will not have to do anything to get access.
The Choice Screen will be available from mid-March 2010.
This would have been more effective if mandated before Microsoft launched Windows 7, but I guess it’s better late than never.
Morning News (European Commission Edition)
The EC Competition Authority announces that they conducted dawn raids on Spanish cement industry.
European Commission Imposes €1.06 billion Fine on Intel
The European Commission (EC) today imposed a €1.06 billion fine on the Intel Corporation for “abuse of a dominant market position . . . by engaging in illegal anticompetitive practices to exclue competitors from the market for computer chips called x86 central processing units.” The Commission futher ordered Intel “to cease the anticompetitive practices to the extent that they are still ongoing.”
According to the Commission, Intel engaged in a practice of providing substantial rebates to PC manufacturers who either used exclusively or predominantly Intel processors. The rebates themselves were not the basis for the fine, but “the conditions Intel attached to those rebates.”
The Commission also found that Intel made direct payments to manufacturers to delay the launch of products containing processors from rival AMD. This “pay-for-delay” scheme, the Commission finds, was directly aimed at preventing AMD from selling its product on the open market and thus violative of EU Law.
Bringing down the Dutch Beer Cartel
The BBC is reporting that the EC Competition Authority has fined a cartel of Dutch brewers (Heineken, Grolsch, and Bavaria) over €273 million. A fourth brewer, InBev, was granted leiniency in exchange for providing information regarding the cartel. The firms were all found to have violated [EC Treaty] Article 81′s prhobitions on restrictive business practice.
According to the BBC, the fine levied against Heineken is the seventh-largest ever; the largest fine to day was imposed against Microsoft. Heineken plans to appeal the fine as “excessive”.
Link to the DG Competition Notice, IP/07/509, Released 18 April 2007.
