Update on recent Mergers in the Digital World: Concers over Microsoft's Aquisition of Skype

Just a quick update on the recent merger-mania among the computer/cell-phone/web 2.0 giants: After Google's bid for Motorola's mobile section we forgot all about the fact that Microsoft is trying to buy Skype. This merger seems to be stuck with the European Commission. Remembering that Skype also offers cell and landline telephone services these days, the Google deal may be looked upon in a new light. Do we really want these companies controlling our telephony services? Or are we just to choose between pest and cholera?
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Update on E-Books - Copy-Paste suits

Apparently the e-book class action came with a tail: Four more complaints have been lodged since Hagens Bergman filed their complaint on the 9th of August.

Antitrust Cases involving Google, Apple and other Giants: I'm getting confused here....

So, following the news these days (and I don't mean the stock markets crashing all over the place), one can get a bit confused about which internet/media/electronics giant is suing which and who is being investigated. So lets recap:

Price-fixing for E-Books!?

As anyone surfing around in the digital world probably is aware of, there has been quite some discussion over e-books, which you can could read on a mobile device such as the iPad or Amazon's kindle. I honestly don't know anyone who does, but I must admit I have occasionally seen people on the train doing it. Personally, I like the look and feel of a book, of turning the page and of having a shelf full of books in my home. That said, I have considered getting a kindle (very shortly). What has driven me away from that idea is that books cost the same, regardless of the format. Economically speaking that makes no sense whatsoever.

10th Complaint against Google to the European Commission

The French "daily deal" site Deal du Jour complained to the European Commission, because Google allegedly removed the site from the web index and also blocks them from using Google’s Adsense advertising service.

Avoiding Horizontal Information "Exchange" - Mission Impossible? (with translation)

So we had a discussion about this one in Johannes Zöttel's blog:

"Kollege Bach berichtet von einer Frage, die in einem Spring Meeting-Panel zum Thema Informationsaustausch aufkam:

Wettbewerber ruft an und gibt eine Preiserhöhung in Höhe von X zum Termin Y bekannt.

C-360/09 Pfleiderer vs Bundeskartellamt

A case I have recently been following is the Pfleiderer Case. This one started out unusually as a "simple" case before the Local Court (Amtsgericht) Bonn, Germany. The "simple" question was: Can a company (rather: their attorney) look into the file of an application for leniency in a cartel case of the German competition authority in order to prepare a private claim for damages? So this is what happened so far: