Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 10, 2009 - The United States and European Union antitrust regulatory bodies are at odds over whether Oracle Corporation should be allowed to go through with its proposed acquisition of Sun Microsystems.
While the U.S. has not found any issues with the proposed merger, the EU has been putting on the breaks. On Monday, the European Commission
issued a statement of objections concerning the acquisition of Sun by Oracle and the deal’s potentially negative effects on competition in the database products market.
"After conducting a careful investigation of the proposed transaction between Oracle and Sun, the Department’s Antitrust Division concluded that the merger is unlikely to be anticompetitive. This conclusion was based on the particular facts of the transaction and the Division’s prior investigations in the relevant industries,” Deputy Assistant Attorney General Molly Boast of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division
said Monday, in a statement.
“The investigation included gathering statements from a variety of industry participants and a review of the parties’ internal business documents. At this point in its process, it appears that the European Commission holds a different view. We remain hopeful that the parties and the EC will reach...
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Tuesday, November 10th, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 10, 2009 - The European Union’s independent supervisory authority devoted to protecting personal data and privacy
said Monday that member states will soon be required to implement new privacy rules including requirements that users be offered easier ways to control whether they want cookies stored on their computer equipment.
European Data Protection Supervisor Peter Hustinx, said in a statement, “I note in particular the emphasis on more effective enforcement of the rules on spyware and cookies. This has special relevance where privacy rights must be protected in relation to so called targeted advertising."
After the revised electronic privacy directive is formerly adopted, member states will have 18 months to follow its provisions. The new provisions are meant to strengthen enforcement powers for national data protection authorities and require that any communications provider or Internet service provider “involved in individuals' personal data being compromised must inform them if the breach is likely to adversely affect them.”
The provisions also give any person negatively affected by spam, such as an Internet service provider, the right to take legal...
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Friday, November 6th, 2009
By Winter Casey, Reporter, BroadbandCensus.com
WASHINGTON, November 6, 2009 - While the U.S. takes steps to make so-called Network Neutrality principles mandatory under official rules, the European Union
moved forward this week with its own set of internet access requirements.
Under the proposed EU rules, “national telecoms authorities will have the powers to set minimum quality levels for network transmission services" so as to promote Net neutrality or "net freedoms" for European citizens.
In addition, owing to new transparency requirements, consumers must be informed – before signing a contract – about the nature of the service to which they are subscribing. Such disclosures must include traffic management techniques and their impact on service quality, as well as any other limitations (such as bandwidth caps or available connection speed),” according to a document posted Thursday on the portal web site of the European Union.
The Net neutrality principles outlined above are part of a telecom reform package that members of the European Parliament and the EU Council of Ministers agreed upon this week following intense negotiations.
The reforms were originally proposed by the European Commission in November 2007, though the sections to “reinforce the neutral character of the internet” and an internet freedom provision,...
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