Category: Keith Hylton
EC May Go Easy on Google
E-Commerce Times
Keith Hylton, School of Law
The EU Competition Commissioner has revealed more information about the remedies Google has proposed in order to settle a brewing antitrust case over its search operations…
Expert quote:
“These companies are hopping mad, and they want the EC to do something to punish Google.”
Google Bends to Dodge European Blow
E-Commerce Times
Keith Hylton, School of Law
Google has submitted a formal set of remedies to the EU Competition Commissioner, which will be shared with competing companies and customers as part of the settlement negotiations…
Expert quote:
“I think Google may still be in danger in the EC, because the competitors are pushing hard for their claims. Also, the EC might well demand changes that Google simply doesn’t want to make.”
Microsoft Windows 8 UEFI Secure Boot complaint: The case for and against
ZDNet
Keith Hylton, School of Law
Earlier this week Hispalinux, a Spanish group which represents 8,000 Linux users, filed a complaint with the European Commission over the UEFI Secure Boot required for Windows 8 hardware, labelling it an “obstruction mechanism” that limited consumers’ choice of operating system…
Expert quote:
“The law is pretty clear in the US that a dominant firm has no duty to provide support to the products of its rivals. The law is less clear in the EU, and so a claim such as this may have some plausibility under EU rules.”
EU hints at change in monitoring antitrust commitments
Reuters
Keith Hylton, School of Law
The European Union’s antitrust action against Microsoft Corp offered a hint of new thinking about getting companies to stand by their commitments, while presenting a potential business opportunity for a niche of law firms…
Expert quote:
“Europeans may be looking at what’s happening here in the U.S. and say, ‘That’s a good model. Maybe we’ll adopt that model’”.
European competition watchdog fines Microsoft $733M for backsliding on browser promise
Associated Press
Keith Hylton, School of Law
The European Union has fined Microsoft $733 million for breaking a pledge to offer personal computer users a choice of Internet browsers when they install the company’s flagship Windows operating system…
Expert quote:
“The fine was far in excess of any benefit Microsoft could have gotten from the error, and vastly in excess of any harm to EU consumers, who are all aware of alternatives to Internet Explorer.”
ExxonMobil Knew in 1984 MTBE Would Contaminate Ground
Bloomberg
Keith Hylton, School of Law
A chemical additive to gasoline meant to make it burn more thoroughly presents a long-term contamination threat in New Hampshire, a witness testified at the trial of ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) in Concord state court…
ExxonMobil Knew in 1984 MTBE Would Contaminate Ground
Bloomberg
Keith Hylton, School of Law
ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) knew in 1984 that adding a chemical to gasoline that makes it burn more thoroughly would triple incidents of ground contamination, lawyers for New Hampshire said at the opening of an $800 million trial…
ExxonMobil Cites U.S. Pollution Rules in N.H. MTBE Fight
Bloomberg
Keith Hylton, School of Law
ExxonMobil Corp. (XOM) and Citgo Petroleum Corp. are the last holdouts in an $800 million lawsuit by New Hampshire alleging that oil companies knew a chemical added to gasoline would contaminate residents’ groundwater…
Google dodges major antitrust bullet
CNNMoney.com
Keith Hylton, School of Law
The Federal Trade Commission’s probe of Google’s search business ended Thursday without a settlement or even so much as a wrist-slap…
Bain Joins Goldman to Urge Dismissal of Bid-Rigging Suit
Bloomberg
Keith Hylton, School of Law
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) and Bain Capital Partners LLC are set to defend what they call legitimate private-equity practices against investor claims that buyout firms and their bankers colluded to rig bids on takeovers…
