Paul Meller

The European Commission launched an in-depth investigation on Thursday into a

European data protection officials said Thursday they have made Microsoft Corp. agree to make "substantial changes" to its .Net Passport, to bring it into line with European Union (EU) laws.

As the European Union wraps up its antitrust investigation into Microsoft Corp., competitors fear that the European Commission may issue a ruling that fails to prevent future abuses by the software maker.

The European Commission is considering extending the reach of rules to ensure fair competition among high-speed Internet providers to include cable companies as well as the large former telecom monopolies.

European telecommunication ministers unanimously agreed to oppose public aid for the telecommunications sector, despite a request by France for regulatory leniency.

Microsoft Corp., which expressed pleasure with District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's antitrust ruling in the U.S. on Friday, is likely to be disappointed in its hopes that the U.S. ruling will set the tone for a similar ruling from European antitrust regulators, according to the software giant's critics.

Europe and Japan are pooling their efforts to get IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) widely adopted.

The European Commission this week opened the bidding process for private, nonprofit organizations hoping to run the .eu top level domain (TLD), which is due to launch next year.