European telecommunication ministers agreed Thursday that unsolicited e-mail and wireless text messages should be prohibited under a new data protection law. They also agreed to allow leeway for law enforcement to access logs of e-mail and telephone traffic.
Microsoft Corp. is fighting off pressure to license its Windows operating system source code to other companies in the ongoing European antitrust lawsuit against the software maker, according to a source familiar with the case.
Microsoft has cancelled its hearing with European competition officials next month to discuss the European Union's antitrust case against the company, John Frank, Microsoft's chief legal officer in Europe said late Tuesday.
The European Commission is poised to take legal action against member states whose former telecommunication monopolies have failed to open the local loop to competition, Erkki Liikanen, Commissioner for Enterprise and the Information Society, said on Thursday.
A Europe-wide measure on direct marketing via e-mail appeared less likely than ever to win approval Tuesday, as the European Parliament failed to agree whether marketers should be allowed to send unsolicited messages to potential customers.
European Union lawmakers are expected to ignore a request by the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush to revise a data protection law they are drafting in a way that would allow law enforcement officers greater access to information about telephone and Internet messages.
The open-source software community has found an unlikely ally in European competition officials in the efforts to restrict the level of patent protection for software.
The Council of Ministers of the European Union (EU) agreed Thursday to pass a new law banning the use of unsolicited e-mail and so-called inertia marketing for the promotion of financial services.
The European Commission has given its consent to a joint venture between Hitachi Ltd. of Japan and LG Electronics Inc. of South Korea, arguing that the combine will face stiff competition from competitors.
The European Commission declined comment Thursday on the latest twist in the U.S. government case against Microsoft Corp., although an official with the competition office of the EuropeanUnion executive body said the new case there is "factually and legally different" from the one being conducted in the U.S.
The European Parliament failed to agree on a position regarding whether or not to outlaw spamming -- or the sending of unsolicited e-mail -- Thursday at its plenary session in Strasbourg, France.
The European Parliament Wednesday adopted a report that says the global electronic surveillance network known as Echelon does exist.
The European Commission confirmed Thursday that it is merging its two antitrust investigations into Microsoft's operating systems, but that it will not seek to block the launch of the company's new operating system, Windows XP.
The European Commission has set limits on the amount of electromagnetic waves that can be emitted by mobile phones in Europe, it said last Monday.
The European Commission said Wednesday it had approved Vodafone Group's increased stake in Spanish mobile phone operator Airtel Movil SA.