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via REUTERS/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Oct 10 (Reuters) - The EU's industry chief told Elon Musk that disinformation was spreading on his X messaging platform since Palestinian Islamist group Hamas' surprise attack on Israel, urging him to take counter-measures in line with new EU online content rules. Thierry Breton said on Tuesday he had indications that X, formerly known as Twitter, was being used to disseminate illegal content and disinformation in the European Union. "I therefore invite you to urgently ensure that your systems are effective and report on the crisis measures taken to my team," Breton told Musk in a letter dated Oct. 10 and seen by Reuters. Responding to Breton's X posting, Musk said his company's policy was that everything is open source and transparent. "Please list the violations you allude to on X, so that the public can see them," he said on X.

Persons: Elon, Thierry Breton, Breton, Musk, Foo Yun Chee, Sudip Kar, Gupta, Mrinmay Dey, Chris Reese, Mark Heinrich, Jonathan Oatis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Twitter, European Union, Reuters, Digital Services, DSA, Thomson Locations: Rights BRUSSELS, Israel, Bengaluru

Europe's telecoms operators say Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), Meta's (META.O) Facebook, Netflix (NFLX.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O) and Amazon (AMZN.O) should bear some of the costs because they make up a huge part of internet traffic. Deutsche Telekom (DTEGn.DE), Orange (ORAN.PA), Telefonica (TEF.MC) and Telecom Italia (TLIT.MI) call it fair-share funding while Big Tech says it amounts to an internet tax. The French commissioner, a former chief executive at France Telecom and supporter of the operators' push, faced blowback from some of his fellow commissioners and some EU countries. Breton will likely voice concerns about the recent acquisitions of telecoms stakes by sovereign investment funds and private equity firms to EU telecoms ministers at an Oct. 23-24 meeting in Leon, Spain, another person said. ($1 = 0.9418 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Tomasz Janowski and Mark PorterOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Thierry Breton, Breton, Foo Yun Chee, Tomasz Janowski, Mark Porter Organizations: Big Tech, European Commission, Google, Facebook, Netflix, Microsoft, Deutsche Telekom, Telefonica, Telecom Italia, France Telecom, EU, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Europe, Orange, Leon, Spain

☆ German antitrust head warns AI may boost Big Tech's dominance
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-09 | by ( Hakan Ersen | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google and Microsoft (MSFT.O) have recently become rivals in artificial intelligence (AI), with the latter investing heavily in OpenAI and the former building the Bard AI chatbot among other investments. The surge in AI popularity has prompted governments around the world to try to impose rules on the use of the technology, with the European Union in a race to adopt its landmark AI rules by the end of the year. "The danger is very great because you need two things above all for AI, powerful servers and vast amounts of data. Mundt said the field was still open to competition but regulators need to ensure it remains so. "Both developments are possible, and as an authority we have to be careful that any competitive potential is not buried from the outset."

Persons: Andreas Mundt, Wolfgang Rattay, Mundt, Foo Yun, Mark Potter Organizations: Federal, Office, REUTERS, Alpha, Big, Google, Microsoft, European Union, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Bonn, Germany, FRANKFURT, OpenAI

[1/2] A sign of Microsoft Corp's Bing search engine is seen at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, China September 21, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators are asking Microsoft's (MSFT.O) users and rivals whether Bing should comply with new tough tech rules and also whether that should be the case for Apple's (AAPL.O) iMessage, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The European Commission in September opened investigations to assess whether Microsoft's Bing, Edge and Microsoft Advertising as well as Apple's iMessage should be subject to the Digital Markets Act (DMA). The probes came after the companies contested the EU competition regulator labelling these services as core platform services under the DMA. The Commission sent out questionnaires earlier this month, asking rivals and users to rate the importance of Microsoft's three services and Apple's iMessage versus competing services.

Persons: Stringer, Microsoft's, Bing, Microsoft's Bing, Foo Yun Chee, Deborah Kyvrikosaios, Angus MacSwan Organizations: Microsoft, Artificial Intelligence, REUTERS, Rights, European Commission, Edge, Microsoft Advertising, Digital Markets, EU, Apple, Google, Thomson Locations: Shanghai, China, Rights BRUSSELS

Ofcom said it had identified features that made it more difficult for UK businesses to use multiple cloud suppliers. Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft had a combined 70-80% share of Britain's public cloud infrastructure services market in 2022, Ofcom said. Microsoft said it was committed to ensuring the UK cloud industry remained innovative and highly competitive. The CMA welcomed the move, saying effective competition in the 7.5 billion pound ($9.1 billion) UK market was essential. Google Vice President Amit Zavery said Ofcom's referral demonstrated the need to create an open cloud market with no vendor lock-in.

Persons: Dan Ridsdale, Edison, Dado Ruvic, Fergal Farragher, Amit Zavery, Yadarisa, Paul Sandle, Foo Yun Chee, Mark Potter, Jan Harvey, Jacqueline Wong, Jane Merriman Organizations: CMA, Microsoft, Ofcom, Amazon Web Services, Google, U.S . Federal Trade Commission, Markets, REUTERS, Cloud Infrastructure Services, Amazon, MICROSOFT, Activision Blizzard, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Britain, France, Japan, The Netherlands, South Korea, China, EU, Europe, Bengaluru, London, Brussels

☆ Google changes user data practices to end German antitrust probe
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-05 | by ( Friederike Heine | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBERLIN, Oct 5 (Reuters) - Alphabet (GOOGL.O) unit Google has agreed to change its user data practices to end a German antitrust investigation aimed at curbing its data-driven market power, the German cartel office said on Thursday. The German regulator said Google's commitments would give users more choice on how their data is used across the company's platforms. "This not only protects the users' right to determine the use of their data, but also curbs Google's data-driven market power," he said. Google's commitment covers more than 25 other services including Gmail, Google News, Assistant, Contacts and Google TV. It does not apply to Google Shopping, Google Play, Google Maps, Google Search, YouTube, Google Android, Google Chrome and Google's online advertising services, all of which are subject to a new EU legislation called the Digital Markets Act which has similar obligations.

Persons: Arnd, Andreas Mundt, Matthias Williams, Foo Yun Chee, Friederike Heine, Mark Potter Organizations: European Engineering, REUTERS, Rights, Google, Tech, Gmail, Google News, Big Tech, Apple, Thomson Locations: Zurich, Switzerland

BRUSSELS, Oct 4 (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators have commissioned a study into mobile ecosystems to help them counter any pushback from Apple (AAPL.O) and Alphabet's (GOOGL.O) Google in complying with new tech rules. They will also have to let users install apps from outside their app stores, a move which Apple said would make phones the target of malware or hijacking by cybercriminals. A tender for the study, worth 300,000 euros ($315,200), will run until Oct. 17, according to an announcement on the European Commission website. "The aim of the study is to support the supervision and enforcement of the DMA vis-a-vis the gatekeepers," the tender document said. ($1 = 0.9517 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Apple, Foo Yun Chee, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Union, Apple, Google, Markets, cybercriminals, European Commission, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

[1/2] 3D printed clouds and figurines are seen in front of the Microsoft Azure cloud service logo in this illustration taken February 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - British media regulator Ofcom will this week push for an antitrust investigation into Amazon (AMZN.O) and Microsoft's (MSFT.O) dominance of the UK's cloud computing market, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Between them, Amazon and Microsoft enjoy a combined market share of 60-70%. Ofcom warned the current state of Britain's cloud computing market made it difficult for some existing customers to bargain for a good deal with their provider. Amazon, Microsoft, the CMA, and Ofcom did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Martin Coulter, Foo Yun Chee, Matthew Scuffham Organizations: Microsoft, REUTERS, Ofcom, Google, CMA, Thomson Locations: British

[1/2] 3D printed clouds and figurines are seen in front of the Microsoft Azure cloud service logo in this illustration taken February 8, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsLONDON, Oct 3 (Reuters) - British media regulator Ofcom will this week push for an antitrust investigation into Amazon (AMZN.O) and Microsoft's (MSFT.O) dominance of the UK's cloud computing market, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Between them, Amazon and Microsoft enjoy a combined market share of 60-70% of Britain's cloud computing industry. Ofcom warned the current state of Britain's cloud computing market made it difficult for some existing customers to bargain for a good deal with their provider. Both Amazon and Microsoft previously said they would continue working with Ofcom ahead of the publication of its final report.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Martin Coulter, Foo Yun Chee, Matthew Scuffham, Susan Fenton Organizations: Microsoft, REUTERS, Ofcom, Google, CMA, Thomson Locations: British, EU, U.S, China

BRUSSELS, Oct 3 (Reuters) - EU lawmakers on Tuesday voted for draft rules targeting Alphabet's Google (GOOGL.O), Meta Platforms (META.O) and other large online platforms' content moderation restrictions after some media outlets complained about arbitrary decisions removing their content. The draft rules require online platforms to carry news content for 24 hours before taking it down if this breaches their content moderation rules. Known as Article 17 of the Media Freedom Act the European Commission proposed last year to ensure media plurality and safeguard editorial independence, the clause has raised alarm bells among online platforms. Media should "be notified of the platform's intention to delete or restrict their content alongside a 24-hour window for the media to respond", lawmakers said in a statement. Lawmakers voted to ban using spyware against journalists unless it can be justified as a last resort measure and also require media to be transparent about their ownership.

Persons: CCIA, Mathilde Adjutor, Foo Yun Chee, Josie Kao Organizations: Google, Media, European Commission, Tech, European, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, Europe, Poland

BRUSSELS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - The European Commission will assess the risks of four critical technologies, including semiconductors and artificial intelligence, being weaponised by countries not aligned with its values and will take measures next year to tackle the issue, an EU official said on Monday. The other two critical technologies on the EU list are quantum technologies and biotechnologies such as vaccines and genome sequencing. "The Commission will do risk assessments of these four technologies with member states. The next step is to mitigate the risks next year," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. Commission Vice President Vera Jourova and EU industry chief Thierry Breton will hold a press conference on the issue at 1330 GMT on Tuesday.

Persons: Vera Jourova, Thierry Breton, Foo Yun Chee, Richard Chang Organizations: European, EU, Reuters, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, United States, Australia, China, Ukraine

☆ No formal investigation into AI chips, EU antitrust regulators say
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Companies NVIDIA Corp FollowBRUSSELS, Oct 2 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators have not opened a formal investigation into chips used for artificial intelligence, the European Commission said on Monday, days after the French competition authority raided Nvidia (NVDA.O) for alleged anti-competitive practices. "There is no formal investigation by the Commission into the matter you refer to," a spokesperson for the EU executive said in an email to Reuters when asked about the issue. Nvidia had declined to comment following the French raid. Bloomberg News last week said the EU antitrust watchdog was informally collecting views on potentially abusive practices in the market for graphics process units. Reporting by Foo Yun CheeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Foo Yun Chee Organizations: NVIDIA, European Commission, Nvidia, Commission, Bloomberg, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Amazon (AMZN.O) has won court backing for now in its fight against EU tech rules that label it as a very large online platform (VLOP) required to provide researchers and authorities access to its ad repositories to see how ads are targeted. The U.S. online retailer took its grievance to Europe's second highest court, the Luxembourg-based General Court, in July after EU antitrust regulators in April designated it as a VLOP along with 18 other platforms and search engines. Amazon welcomed the interim measure, calling it an "an important first step that supports our broader position that Amazon doesn't fit the description of a 'Very Large Online Platform' (VLOP) under the DSA, and therefore should not be designated as such". The Court dismissed the second part of Amazon's application. The case is T‑367/23 R, Amazon Services Europe Sarl vs Commission.

Persons: Gonzalo Fuentes, Foo Yun Chee, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Viva Technology, Porte de, REUTERS, Rights, EU, Digital Services, The, Amazon, DSA, Amazon Services Europe, Commission, Thomson Locations: Porte, Paris, France, Rights BRUSSELS, U.S, Luxembourg

☆ EU probe into Adobe, Figma deal paused, regulators await data
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Figurines are seen in front of displayed Adobe logo in this illustration taken June 13, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Adobe Inc FollowBRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - European Union antitrust regulators' investigation into Photoshop maker Adobe's (ADBE.O) $20 billion bid for cloud-based designer platform Figma has been put on hold while they wait for requested information from the companies. The European Commission said it stopped the clock effective Sept. 19 and will set a new deadline once the companies provide the data. The Commission has previously voiced concerns that the deal may remove an important rival to Adobe and allow it to restrict competition in global markets for the supply of interactive product design tools. Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Sharon SingletonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Foo Yun Chee, Sharon Singleton Organizations: REUTERS, Inc, Union, European Commission, EU, Adobe, Thomson

Concerns have mounted in recent months about a spate of disinformation related to parliamentary elections in Slovakia on Sept. 30 and Poland next month as well as European Parliament elections next year. The companies and other online platforms have submitted data on their activity in the last six months to fight fake news as part of the EU code of practice on disinformation. "Today, this is a multi-million euro weapon of mass manipulation ..."The 'very large platforms' must address this risk. Especially as we have to expect that the Kremlin and others will be active before elections." After the last European Parliament elections in 2019, Russia's Security Council described accusations that Moscow had spread disinformation to sway voters as absurd.

Persons: Vera Jourova, John Thys, Alphabet's, Yevgeny Prigozhin, Russia's Wagner, Jourova, Elon, Musk, Meta, Foo Yun Chee, Kevin Liffey Organizations: European Commission, General Affairs Council, Rights, Google, Microsoft, Kremlin, Russia's Security, Internet Research Agency, Digital Services, Twitter, Facebook, Thomson Locations: Luxembourg, Rights BRUSSELS, Europe, Slovakia, Poland, Moscow, Washington, Russia, Ukraine

BRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Edwards Lifesciences (EW.N) was raided by EU antitrust regulators at one of its facilities in an EU country a week ago, two people with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday. Edwards Lifesciences' shares dipped after the Reuters story, falling 2.5% in pre-market trade. Edwards Lifesciences, which says it is a global leader in making medical products for structural heart disease, did not respond to repeated emailed requests for comment. Companies found guilty of violating EU antitrust rules face fines as much as 10% of their global turnover. According to analysts, Edwards Lifesciences competes with Abbot Laboratories (ABT.N), Medtronic (MDT.N), Zimmer Biomet (ZBH.N) and Boston Scientific Corp (BSX.N), among others.

Persons: Edwards, Edwards Lifesciences, Zimmer Biomet, Foo Yun Chee, Kirsten Donovan, Louise Heavens Organizations: Reuters, European, EU, Abbot Laboratories, Boston Scientific Corp, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU

An Apple logo is pictured outside an Apple store in Lille, France, September 13, 2023. REUTERS/Stephanie Lecocq/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Apple Inc FollowBRUSSELS, Sept 26 (Reuters) - EU industry chief Thierry Breton on Tuesday called on Apple (AAPL.O) CEO Tim Cook to open up the iPhone maker's fiercely guarded ecosystem of hardware and software to rivals. "The next job for Apple and other Big Tech, under the DMA (Digital Markets Act) is to open up its gates to competitors," Breton told Reuters. "Be it the electronic wallet, browsers or app stores, consumers using an Apple iPhone should be able to benefit from competitive services by a range of providers," he said. Breton also took aim at Apple's arguments that security and privacy issues are the reasons why it has a closed ecosystem.

Persons: Stephanie Lecocq, Thierry Breton, Tim Cook, Cook, Breton, Foo Yun, Mark Potter Organizations: Apple, REUTERS, Apple Inc, Big Tech, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Lille, France, Brussels, EU

☆ EU antitrust regulators veto Booking's ETraveli deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

BRUSSELS, Sept 25 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators on Monday blocked Booking Holdings' (BKNG.O) proposed 1.63-billion-euro ($1.7 billion) acquisition of Swedish peer ETraveli Group, saying the deal would have strengthened the former's dominance in the market for hotel online travel agencies (OTA). The European Commission, which acts as the competition watchdog in the 27-country European Union, said Booking's remedies were not sufficient to address its concerns, confirming a Reuters story earlier this month. ($1 = 0.9405 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun CheeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Foo Yun Chee Organizations: Holdings, ETraveli, European Commission, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS

BRUSSELS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Agreements between companies not to hire each other's employees have recently attracted regulatory scrutiny, a senior EU antitrust official said on Friday, amid concerns that such practices may unlawfully restrict workers' job opportunities. The U.S. Justice Department has in recent years stepped up enforcement over no-poach and non-solicitation agreements, with individuals launching litigation. That could soon change, said Olivier Guersent, director general at the European Commission's antitrust unit. Antitrust lawyers say no-poach deals can be seen as agreements to restrict competition in labour markets. They say competition watchdogs in Portugal, France, Spain, Croatia, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Romania and Germany have examined or acted against such deals.

Persons: Olivier Guersent, we're, Foo Yun, Bill Berkrot 私 Organizations: U.S . Justice Department, Antitrust, EU, Union Locations: BRUSSELS, Europe, New York, Portugal, France, Spain, Croatia, Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, Greece, Lithuania, Romania, Germany

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS, Sept 22 (Reuters) - Intel (INTC.O) was fined 376 million euros ($400 million) on Friday in an EU antitrust case stemming from actions the U.S. chipmaker took between 2002 and 2006. An initial record fine of 1.06 billion euros in 2009 was thrown out last year by the Luxembourg-based General Court, Europe's second highest. The court, however, agreed with the European Commission that Intel illegally excluded rivals from the market which prompted the EU antitrust watchdog to re-open the case. "The General Court confirmed that Intel's naked restrictions amounted to an abuse of dominant market position under EU competition rules," the European Commission said in a statement. The Commission has appealed the General Court's ruling last year at the EU Court of Justice, Europe's top court.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, chipmaker, Court's, Europe's, Bart Meijer, Jane Merriman, Jason Neely Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Intel, European Commission, Devices, HP, Lenovo, HK, EU, Justice, Thomson Locations: Rights BRUSSELS, Luxembourg

☆ EU antitrust regulators set Oct. 23 deadline for Arcelik, Whirlpool deal
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

European flags fly outside the European Commission headquarters in Brussels, Belgium September 20, 2023. REUTERS/Yves Herman/File photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Arcelik AS FollowWhirlpool Corp FollowBRUSSELS, Sept 21 (Reuters) - EU antitrust regulators will decide by Oct. 23 whether to clear Turkish domestic appliances maker Arcelik's (ARCLK.IS) proposed purchase of Whirlpool's (WHR.N) European domestic appliances business, an European Commission filing showed on Thursday. Under the deal announced in January, the companies will set up a new entity made up of Arcelik's European units such as major domestic appliances, small domestic appliances and consumer electronics and Whirlpool's European business. The EU competition watchdog can either clear the deal with or without seeking remedies after its preliminary review or it can open a four-month investigation if it has serious concerns. The UK competition agency is also assessing the deal, with a decision due by Sept. 28.

Persons: Yves Herman, Arcelik, Blomberg, Foo Yun, Mark Potter Organizations: European Commission, REUTERS, Whirlpool, Commission, EU, Zenith, Thomson Locations: Brussels, Belgium, BRUSSELS, Arctic, Altus, Grundig

REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration Acquire Licensing RightsBRUSSELS/STOCKHOLM, Sept 21 (Reuters) - European Union lawmaker Brando Benifei, who is leading negotiations on artificial intelligence rules, on Thursday urged EU countries to compromise in key areas in order to reach agreement with the bloc's executive by the end of the year. The thorniest issues are biometric surveillance and copyrighted material used by ChatGPT and other generative AI. Lawmakers want a ban on AI use in biometric surveillance but EU countries led by France want exceptions for national security, defence and military purposes. Lawmakers also want AI legislation to cover copyrighted material used by companies like OpenAI, backed by Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O), while EU countries say the bloc's current copyright rules offer sufficient protection. Copyright should be dealt with in the copyright law," she told Reuters, chiming with EU countries on the second matter.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Brando Benifei, Benifei, Alexandra van Huffelen, Svenja Hahn, Guillaume Couneson, Linklaters, Foo Yun Chee, Martin Coulter, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: REUTERS, Union, European Commission, Microsoft Corp, Reuters, UN, Assembly, Global Tech Sector, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, STOCKHOLM, France, Europe, New York, Spain, London

BRUSSELS, Sept 20 (Reuters) - European Union's second-top court on Wednesday backed an EU competition regulator's decision against a 700-million-euro ($748 million) Belgian tax scheme for 55 multinationals, in a major win for EU antitrust chief's crackdown on sweetheart tax deals. The Luxembourg-based General Court had in 2019 annulled Margrethe Vestager's decision after Belgium and about 30 of the companies challenged it. Beneficiaries of the Belgian scheme that dated from 2005 included U.S. manufacturer Magnetrol, oil company BP (BP.L), chemical producer BASF (BASFn.DE), Wabco, Cellio, Atlas Copco (ATCOa.ST) and Belgacom, now Proximus (PROX.BR) . The EU Court of Justice, Europe's top court, in 2021 however sided with the EU competition enforcer and referred the case back to the lower tribunal. Belgium can still appeal to the EU Court of Justice.

Persons: Margrethe Vestager's, Atlas, Europe's, Foo Yun Chee, Bart Meijer, Tomasz Janowski Organizations: Belgian, EU, BP, BASF, Justice, Belgian Finance Ministry, Thomson Locations: BRUSSELS, EU, Luxembourg, Belgium, Brussels, Amsterdam

A sign is pictured outside a Google office near the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California, U.S., May 8, 2019. Google turned to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) after the General Court in 2021 threw out its challenge to the fine levied by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager in 2017. Google lawyer Thomas Graf said the European Commission had failed to show that the company's different treatment of rivals was abusive and that different treatment alone was not anti-competitive. "Qualifying every different treatment, and in particular different treatment of first party and third party businesses, as abusive would undermine competition. Commission lawyer Fernando Castillo de la Torre dismissed Google's arguments, saying the company had used its algorithms to unfairly favour its price comparison shopping service, in breach of EU antitrust laws.

Persons: Paresh Dave, Margrethe Vestager, Thomas Graf, Graf, Fernando Castillo de la Torre, Google's, Foo Yun Chee, David Evans Organizations: REUTERS, Google, Justice, European Union, European Commission, v, Thomson Locations: Mountain View , California, U.S

☆ Hitachi's EU remedies on Thales deal similar to UK remedies, source says
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-15 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of Hitachi is seen at an office building in Zurich, Switzerland September 10, 2020. REUTERS/Arnd Wiegmann/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsCompanies Hitachi Ltd FollowThales SA FollowBRUSSELS, Sept 15 (Reuters) - Hitachi's (6501.T) remedies to EU antitrust regulators assessing its proposed 1.7-billion-euro ($1.8 billion) buy of French infrastructure company Thales' (TCFP.PA) rail signal business are similar to those offered to the UK competition agency, a person with direct knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Friday. Hitachi told the UK Competition and Markets Authority in June that it was ready to divest its UK, French and German mainline signaling business and transfer its core communication-based train control technology to a rival. It had said that these assets comprise all the elements needed for a viable, standalone business. ($1 = 0.9376 euros)Reporting by Foo Yun CheeOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Arnd, Foo Yun Chee Organizations: Hitachi, REUTERS, Companies Hitachi Ltd, Thales, Follow, Reuters, Competition, Markets Authority, Thomson Locations: Zurich, Switzerland

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