Microsoft provided inadequate interoperability data on its work group server systems and wants royalties that are too steep, the EC said Thurs. in a preliminary ruling. In 2004, the EC found that Microsoft broke EU competition law by using a near-monopoly in PC operating systems as leverage in the market for work group server operating systems. Microsoft was told to reveal full and accurate interface documentation on “reasonable and nondiscriminatory terms” to allow work group servers from other companies to run with Windows PCs and servers. Microsoft agreed to base royalties on whether its protocols are innovative. But a provisional EC “statement of objections” found no “significant innovation” in the interoperability data, meaning Microsoft’s proposed royalty rates are unreasonable, the EC said. The company offers a choice of 2 licenses to companies seeking interoperability data under the 2004 decision. The “no patent” contract lets licensees use the protocols made up of the interoperability data without getting a license for patents that Microsoft claims are necessary but that are disputed by 3rd parties. The “all IP” agreement combines the first license with a license for the disputed patents. The EC said its preliminary view is that there’s “virtually no innovation” in the 51 protocols in the no-patent agreement, representing over 95% of the price of the total technical documentation. And most material on the all IP license relates only to solving Windows-specific problems and won’t help a licensee’s operating system work better, the EC said. Microsoft has 4 weeks to respond, and a right to a hearing, after which the EC can assess daily antitrust penalties up to 5% of average daily turnover the preceding business year. The EC stressed that yesterday’s decision isn’t final. The Assn. for Competitive Technology, which has often spoken up for member Microsoft, blasted the EC for sapping European intellectual property (IP) protection. “Despite the presence of 40 patents and numerous trade secrets in the protocols in question, which they haven’t reviewed, the Commission feels that they can announce there is little or no innovation contained within,” said Pres. Jonathan Zuck. With much of the world seemingly embracing IP’s value, the EC is going backward, he said. No wonder a recent report found Europe lagging behind other regions in innovation, Zuck added.
GENEVA -- World Radio Conference (WRC) negotiators may consider spectrum allocation for long-range ship tracking, electronic newsgathering, safety at sea and continuing protection of aeronautical radiocommunication services when they meet later this year, officials here said.
Microsoft’s Xbox 360 game Crackdown became the #1- rented videogame in the U.S. during its first week available, according to Rentrak’s preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Feb. 25. It was the only new game in the top 10.
The International Trade Administration has issued a notice initiating Section 129 proceedingsin order to implement a World Trade Organization (WTO) panel report finding that the ITA's use of "zeroing" in average-to-average comparison antidumping (AD) investigations in 12 European Community AD investigations is inconsistent with U.S. obligations under the WTO Agreements.
SanDisk, Apple and Samsung declined to comment Wed. on a patent infringement suit filed Feb. 20 against them by Texas MP3 Technologies in U.S. Dist. Court, Marshall, Tex. Texas MP3 claimed the defendants’ MP3 players infringed U.S. Patent No. 7,065,417 for an “MPEG Portable Sound Reproducing System and a Reproducing Method Thereof.” The patent was issued in June 2006, but Texas MP3 only recently was assigned all rights in it. Texas MP3 sought a judgment that each defendant had infringed on its patent, as well as preliminary and permanent injunctions to stop the defendants from continued infringing. It also sought unspecified damages. SanDisk mentioned the suit in the 10-K report it filed Wed. with the SEC but made no comment about it. Separately, nearly 2 weeks after SanDisk announced cost-cutting measures to combat industrywide NAND component price deterioration, CEO Eli Harari told analysts early this week that 2007 is “off to an unusually challenging start.” NAND component pricing fell about 50% the past 2 months “due to excessive supply of NAND components coupled with first quarter seasonally weak demand,” he said Feb. 16. Austerity measures include cutting up to 10% of employees and cutting salaries of some executives and freezing others’, SanDisk said. Company executives told analysts they see a “huge global opportunity” for it in the audio/video category. The next 2 years, it expects to “move from a follower to really an innovator and a leader” in that category, said Harari, adding that SanDisk isn’t content with its audio/video share. SanDisk succeeded in the flash MP3 player arena and it’s frequently ranked #2 in market share in the U.S, though far behind Apple.
Inmarsat’s total revenue for 2006 was more than $500 million, the company said in its preliminary year-end results report. It expects to formally report its earnings for 2006 April 27, it said. Inmarsat had 7% growth in the maritime sector, with maritime data growing 11% year over year, it said. Land sector revenue was down 5% year over year, it said. Inmarsat expects the addition of a handheld satellite phone will improve results in 2007, allowing it to enhance its land voice service offering and “win new customers.” Inmarsat CEO Andrew Sukawaty said Inmarsat will continue to migrate older users from analog to digital services, freeing up spectrum. He played down fluctuations in usage, noting that many subscribers use Inmarsat as a backup service so there will be times of “heavy service” and times when some subscribers are only testing the service. Inmarsat said it’s pleased with its BGAN service, with Sukawaty noting it wasn’t “priced aggressively” because “we did not want a mass migration.” Inmarsat said it’s “committed to ensuring” that its Swift aeronautical product will be available by the end of the year, when airlines have indicated they want to begin testing in-flight services, he said. Launch of Inmarsat’s 3rd Inmarsat4 satellite is being arranged with Lockheed Martin, but will probably slip to 2008, said Sukawaty.
The U.K. Office of Communications (Ofcom) will probe British Sky Bcstg. Group’s (Sky’s) acquisition of 17.9% of ITV, the Dept. for Trade & Industry (DTI) said Mon. The regulator has until April 27 to report on its initial probe of public interest issues raised by the transaction. In Jan., the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said a preliminary review of the situation raised possible merger issues. Its report to the govt. is also due in April. The govt. decision for an initial investigation was made “without prejudice” to any subsequent substantive decisions, Sky said.
The International Trade Administration (ITA) has issued its final results of the countervailing (CV) duty administrative review of dynamic random access memory semiconductors from Korea for the period of January 1, 2004 through December 31, 2004.
GENEVA -- Work on frequency issues for development of IMT-2000 and systems beyond IMT-2000 are ongoing at the technical level, said the co-chair of a working group of the Conference Preparatory Meeting (CPM) preparing for the World Radiocommunication Conference (WRC). The hope is to do the work before CPM ends, but much remains to be done, she said.
New Games: Capcom’s Xbox 360 game Lost Planet: Extreme Condition was again the #1-rented videogame in the U.S., according to preliminary Home Video Essentials data for the week ended Feb. 18. The only new game in the top 10 was Ghost Rider for PS2 from Take-Two Interactive’s 2K Games label, at #5… The next round of cut-price Xbox 360 Platinum Hits games will ship March 16 in N. America, Latin America, Japan and Asia Pacific. U.S. releases, starting at $29.99, will include Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, Burnout Revenge and Fight Night Round 3 from Electronic Arts, Activision’s Call of Duty 2, Tecmo’s Dead or Alive 4, Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter and Take-Two Interactive’s Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis and Top Spin 2. The slates differ in other markets. AAA new 360 releases typically cost $59.99 in the U.S. The Platinum Hits program for 360 kicked off worldwide last fall. Games in the Xbox and Xbox 360 Platinum Hits programs accounted for more than 16.3 million games sold worldwide to date, Microsoft said.