Tag: ANTI-TRUST

How about this: the much talked-about browser ballot is a website! BrowserChoice.eu, to be precise -- check it out. Hit F5 and watch the order randomize. Scroll right and check out the lesser-known browsers such as Sleipnir or Flock. Finally, hit the Install or Tell me more buttons and be whisked off to the browser's website! The analysis is interesting though -- check out the wording, ...

I'm back! I had to fend off Jay with my rusty saber -- and when that didn't work, I threatened to drop his iPhone on the ground (a very effective tactic if there's a Mac zealot that you're trying to coerce, incidentally). Anyway, British rules of engagement stipulate that I thank Jay for his help, offer him a cup of tea, and move swiftly along. So: Firefox! It's been another quiet week with no ...

The Battle of Apple vs Psystar has played out in the courts and the blogosphere over the past year and has pitted the personal computing giant against open source community and consumer advocates determined to test the boundaries of the legal protection of software. Psystar is a Miami based company in the business of producing Apple clones by installing OS X and Snow Leopard on Intel desktops ...

Microsoft's struggle with the European Commission's demands regarding browser choice just never seems to end. Today's soap opera episode introduces another main character into the cast: Mozilla. Earlier this week, Harvey Anderson and Mitchell Baker, two highers-up of Mozilla and the Mozilla Foundation, blogged about concerns and issues they had about the fairness of Microsoft's proposed ballot ...

Remember how Yahoo! and Google announced this summer that they would be partnering to place Google AdSense ads next to Yahoo! search results? Yeah, that's not going to happen. Basically, Google says it's pulling out of the deal because government regulators and "some advertisers" are uncomfortable with the idea. The New York Times puts things a bit more strongly, mentioning that regulators ...

European regulators have approved Google's plan to buy online advertising giant DoubleClick. The acquisition, which has been in the works for the better part of a year will solidify Google's dominance in the advertising field. Right now Google makes most of its money through its lucrative contextual advertising system. The DoubleClick acquisition will help Google move into display ads, an area ...

After nine years, Microsoft has given up its fight against European Union regulators. Essentially, the EU says Microsoft is a monopoly, and as such should take certain measures to give consumers more options and open up its source code a tiny bit to enable interoperability with third party software. Microsoft has decided not to appeal the latest EU court ruling, which means the company will fork ...

There's good news and bad news for Microsoft today. The bad news is that the European Court of First Instance has upheld a 2004 court decision finding Microsoft guilty of violating antitrust laws. The god news is that if anyone can afford a $690 million fine and 80% of court costs, it's Bill Gates. But somehow we doubt he'll see it that way. The Court upheld portions of the 2004 ruling that ...