By David Utter
Expert Author
Article Date: 2007-10-22
The long-running battle over antitrust concerns and Microsoft should come to an end in Europe, but Google and DoubleClick will have to wait until November for European Union approval of their deal.
The European Union's Competition Commission wanted Microsoft to make more of its server code available, to allow for third party interoperability with machines running Windows products. Microsoft delayed compliance with the anti-competition directive, resulting in the European Commission hitting the company with a massive $357 million fine in July 2006.
Microsoft battled that decision as well. The ongoing battle seems headed for a wrapup, with European Commissioner Neelie Kroes saying in a Bloomberg report the two sides have finally found an end to their fight:
"These changes in Microsoft's practices will profoundly affect software industries,'' European Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes told reporters in Brussels today. "I sincerely hope that we can just close this dark chapter of our relationship.''
As recently as March 2007, Kroes threatened Microsoft with even more fines regarding their non-compliance with anti-competition rulings. Microsoft general counsel Brad Smith criticized the Commission for its interpretation of the standard under which software should be made available without royalties.
Meanwhile, a little touch of The Fear may be circulating the counsel offices in Google's Europe operations.
An extension of the original deadline to give or deny Google's deal to buy DoubleClick on competitive grounds has been pushed forward to November, when it had been scheduled to take place on October 26th.
Reuters suggested a deeper meaning to the date change:
The deadline for a decision on the $3.1 billion deal was moved back so proposed remedies to possible competition problems could be tested, a spokeswoman for the European Union executive said.
That means Google has proposed changes to the deal, which will be vetted with customers and competitors.
Google has long portrayed the buy as being similar to purchases made by its competitors, to add expanded display advertising capabilities to their existing search advertising services.
Privacy concerns have been raised in the US over one company gaining access to a majority of Internet users' surfing habits, should the deal be approved. But it appears likely the US Federal Trade Commission will rubber-stamp the deal regardless of those, while the EU already dismissed privacy issues from its consideration of possible anti-competitive practices.
