antitrust

Microsoft announced Thursday it expanded its Exchange ActiveSync IP licensing program and posted technical documents to spur development of prototype applications that link to its Exchange Server and Exchange ActiveSync-enabled mobile phones.

The Exchange ActiveSync software is designed to allow mobile phones to receive wireless push e-mail, as well as synchronize calendar, contacts and tasks. It also aims to allow companies to manage wireless devices and enact security policies.

The software giant also posted the protocols on the Microsoft Developer Network and expanded the licensing program to establish greater clarity on the steps and licensing terms that are needed when … Read more

A Dutch software dealer has filed a complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission, arguing that the company's pricing policy in Europe violates antitrust laws.

Company owner Samir Abdalla's complaint is that Microsoft charges at least a third more for its software in Europe than it does in the U.S. Abdalla's lawyer, Gerard van der Wal of the Houthoff Buruma practice, said his client had begun a legal proceeding "this week" and was seeking clarification from the commission.

"At this stage, we are asking the court to accept that there has been a … Read more

A federal judge has tossed out Psystar's antitrust lawsuit against Apple, one of its most important avenues to remaining in business.

Judge William Alsup of the U.S. Federal Court for the Northern District of California rejected Psystar's argument that Apple uses anticompetitive practices to prevent companies from selling computers that run Mac OS X, according to court documents spotted by AppleInsider. Psystar can amend its complaint in order to try to convince the judge that it has a better argument, but it has only 20 days to decide whether or not it can overcome the judge's … Read more

Updated at 9:47 a.m. PST, with details about the likelihood of any potential Yahoo overture to Microsoft.

If Yahoo wants to get Microsoft back to the negotiating table, it would do well to try the lure of a search-only deal--regardless of whether Jerry Yang is CEO.

That's the assessment from one influential Microsoft source.

"If Jerry was still CEO and called Steve tomorrow and said, let's talk about a search-only deal, I think Steve would listen," said the source. "Microsoft is open to a mutually beneficial search deal. But people are still lusting … Read more

Over the past few years, the technology industry has discovered that those pesky bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. actually wield a lot of power. Microsoft, in particular, learned years ago that a little money goes a long way to stave off antitrust lawyers, as suggested by The New York Times.

It's therefore not surprising to see Microsoft, Google, Yahoo, and others actively lobbying Congress for a wide variety of things, including H1-B visa expansion, Net neutrality, etc.

What is perhaps surprising is how much Microsoft is outspending its rivals, as The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

Indeed, as the Associated Press notes, … Read more

Yahoo has no search advertising deal with Google, and ditto for its disappointment in luring Microsoft back to the table for an outright buyout of the entire company. But what it does have to show for its efforts is a $73 million bill to outside advisers, according to the company's filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the SEC filing, filed last week, here are the various components that make up the $73 million bill:

Income from operations for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2008 includes incremental costs of $37 million and $73 million, … Read more

Yahoo shares went into a free fall Friday morning, following comments made by Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer that the software giant would not make a renewed bid for Yahoo.

Shares of Yahoo plummeted as low as 16.5 percent in Friday trading, landing as low as $11.65 a share.

Ballmer, speaking at a Committee for Economic Development of Australia , said:

Look, we made an offer, we made another offer. It was clear that Yahoo didn't want to sell the business to us, and we moved on.

We are not interested in going back and relooking at an acquisition...… Read more

Microsoft is working to hijack Verizon Wireless' search deal from rival Google, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

The software giant is counting on Google's recent regulatory distraction in offering more generous revenue sharing and higher payments, the newspaper reported late Thursday.

Google has reportedly been courting the No. 2 wireless carrier for months to make its search engine the default on Verizon phones, but Verizon is considering both offers, according to the Journal's sources.

Microsoft showed its desire to move into Google's search territory earlier this year when it made a multibillion-dollar bid … Read more

Early Wednesday morning, the Department of Justice notified Yahoo and Google that if they proceeded with their controversial search agreement, it would file a lawsuit to block the deal.

In some ways, the DOJ's decision was not terribly surprising. Over the past two or three weeks, federal antitrust regulators became increasingly wary of the agreement and, in particular, tested Google's resolve to remain in the deal, according to sources. Over the past few weeks, the give-and-take of negotiations between the parties seemed to be forward progress, but faltered as government regulators became increasingly unyielding in their demands.

"… Read more