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EU Commission holds meeting over free-to-play concerns
The European Commission is meeting with member state authorities and companies like Apple and Google with an eye to enforcing stronger regulation of free-to-play games. The European Union's executive body says it's concerned a substantial number of games are marketed as free but in truth entail in-app purchases that can be costly, a system that children are "particularly vulnerable to." In a press release, the European Commission outlined the four consumer-raised issues that will be discussed in detail at the meeting: Games advertised as "free" should not mislead consumers about the true costs involved; Games should not contain direct exhortations to children to buy items in a game or to persuade an adult to buy items for them; Consumers should be adequately informed about the payment arrangements and purchases should not be debited through default settings without consumers' explicit consent; Traders should provide an email address so that consumers can contact them in case of queries or complaints.
Valve can restrict resale of digital games in Germany, court rules
The Regional Court of Berlin has dismissed a lawsuit from the German consumer organization VZBV against Valve, for now granting Valve the authority to prevent Steam users from reselling their libraries of digital games. Business as usual, that is. In September 2012, VZBV brought a desist letter against Valve, asking that the company (among other things), allow users to resell their "used" digital game accounts, in accordance with a Court of Justice of the European Union ruling made in July 2012 preventing authors from opposing resale of their digital software. Valve had until October 10, 2012, to respond to the desist letter, or the VZBV would bring about a lawsuit – Valve didn't change its policies, and the lawsuit moved forward. The VZBV argues digital games fall under the doctrine of exhaustion, which dictates that copyright owners have limited ability to control individual copies of their products once those items have been distributed. "A second case dealing with the precise copyright status of video games (coming, incidentally, from Germany) is currently still before the European judges, so the case law on this issue must be considered in flux," legal team Osborne Clarke writes. "But at least for the moment, it looks like digitally distributed video games are not subject to exhaustion in Europe." This was the VZBV's second lawsuit against Valve and its digital resale restrictions. The first lawsuit made it to Germany's highest civil court, the Federal Court of Justice, but was dismissed in 2010. [Image: Valve]
EU may force Apple to change Lightning connector
EU lawmakers today agreed to a draft regulation stating that all consumer electronics manufacturers must use a common standard battery charger device. While the law may not take effect until 2017 or after, that means that Apple -- which uses its own Lightning adapter rather than the micro-USB connectors adopted by most other smartphone and tablet manufacturers -- would be forced to change its connector standard. The draft legislation could be voted on as soon as March 2014, at which time it will need to be turned into national laws by each EU state. Manufacturers will have another year after state adoption to comply, which means that 2017 is about the earliest that Apple might have to change the Lightning connector. However, this entire situation -- which was brought on by consumer advocates -- might be a moot point. A new USB connector, under design by one of the original USB architects, Ajay Bhatt, is being considered for adoption and would provide a reversible plug similar to the Lightning connector. This new standard will be called the Type C USB connector, and it might be well worth Apple's investment in time and money to influence the design to be compatible with Lightning. Other changes are included in the draft legislation, including common rules for radio equipment including mobile phones and data modems, as well as forcing manufacturers to register products prior to market release. A similar registration program is already in place in the United States, where the Federal Communications Commission must approve products prior to sale.
EU bureaucrats want to force Apple to adopt micro-USB adapter
Since the concept was first introduced, consumers have complained about proprietary chargers. Regardless if they're needed or not for a given product, they can be annoying and inconvenient. But are they bad for the environment? That's the argument being put forward by the Members of the European Parliament's internal market committee. On September 26, the body voted unanimously to propose a law that would require companies to use a universal mobile phone charger. The law requires mobile phone manufactures to include the universal micro-USB charger in its designs. In a statement, Germany's MEP, Barbara Weiler, explained her support of the measure. We urge member states and manufacturers finally to introduce a universal charger, to put an end to cable chaos for mobile phones and tablet computers. This isn't the first time the European Union has sought to impose a charger standard on manufactures. In 2009, the Commission reached a voluntary agreement with 10 mobile phone manufacturers to adopt the micro-USB charge and sync interface as the industry standard. Apple signed the agreement, a Memorandum of Understanding, but has not replaced its 30-pin or 8-pin chargers. Thursday's vote means this formerly voluntary agreement is no longer voluntary. For Apple, with proprietary chargers that factor into the optimization of the iPhone design, this law raises some troubling concerns. Apple already sells iPhone micro-USB adaptors, and perhaps it could start including them with new iPhones as a workaround. The international market committee will now meet with the European Council to negotiate on how to move the legislation forward toward passage. No dates have been announced for those meetings.
Apple and 13 other companies warn that EU patent shakeup may encourage patent trolls
Seemingly not a week goes by without hearing some new story about a patent troll mysteriously emerging out of the woodwork, with questionable second-hand patents in hand, and suing a smorgasbord of tech companies for patent infringement. While the Obama Administration has taken steps to potentially reduce the drain on the tech economy stemming from frivolous patent lawsuits, there's no denying that patent trolls are still able to earn ill-gotten fortunes in patent troll-friendly courts around the country. Now, Apple and 13 other companies recently signed their name to a letter sent to European officials expressing their concern that the patent troll problem may soon sprout up in Europe in light of plans to implement a unified patent system across most of Europe. Some of the other companies signing off on the letter include Cisco, Deutsche Telekom AG, Google, Intel, Microsoft, Hewlett-Packard and Samsung. As it stands now, individual European countries typically have their own unique patent rules, procedures and regulations; which helps explain why Samsung and Apple currently have patent infringement cases pending in places like the Netherlands, Germany, France, the UK and Italy. So while a unified patent system may operate to improve efficiency in some respects (reduced cost in obtaining patents, for example), the aforementioned companies worry that the plan in its current form may actually serve to benefit patent trolls in the long run. For instance, the current draft of the rules of procedure for a Unified Patent Court (UPC) details a two-court system wherein one court would rule whether or not a party is guilty of infringement while another would rule on the validity of the asserted patent. The letter highlights how this bifurcation of duties might potentially lend itself to mischief: This could, in some cases, allow plaintiffs to obtain a quick infringement ruling, along with an injunction barring products from most of the European market, before any determination of whether the patent in question is actually valid. Given the drastic impact of such an injunction on the defendant, unprincipled plaintiffs would be able to extract substantial royalties (through settlements or verdicts) from European and other companies based on low-quality, and potentially invalid patents. Consequently, the proposed patent system, the letter argues, "could undermine rather than promote innovation in Europe." Naturally, the signed parties ask that a framework be put in place wherein injunctions would be put on hold until a "decision on patent validity has been reached." The signed parties also take umbrage with the fact that there are no guidelines regarding the rigidity with which injunctions will be handed down. If injunctions are handed out too freely, the letter reads, the result would be particularly harmful as rulings from the UPC would "extend beyond a single country to most of Europe." As a result, patent trolls operating under a UPC could abuse the system and force settlements from company's fearing adverse rulings that would have ramifications across a number of European countries. The letter concludes: We believe that these concerns can and should be addressed through targeted changes to the proposed UPC rules of procedure. Several of the undersigned organizations will recommend specific changes to the proposed rules to the Preparatory Committee, which is responsible for establishing and implementing the UPC. These changes will include guidance to the judiciary on how to handle bifurcated proceedings when validity is raised, when to issue a stay of an infringement action and when to issue injunctions. Adoption of these amendments will allow operating companies to focus on innovation instead of litigation, thereby fostering economic growth and prosperity in Europe. Lastly, it's worth noting that not every European country is on board with a Unified Patent Court. The New York Times relays that Spain, Poland and Italy have all expressed concerns and reservations with the idea.
UKIE 'pretty confident' UK tax relief will go through despite EU doubts
UK gaming trade body UKIE is "pretty confident" the country's tax break proposal will be approved by the European Union and finally put into place, nullifying the doubts raised by the EU Commission over taxpayers contributing to the proposed relief. Last year, the UK government approved the much-needed breaks for the country's ailing games sector, set to provide 25 percent tax relief on 80 percent of the budget for qualifying UK-made games. Then in April of this year, the European Commission put the proposal on hold by announcing an in-depth investigation, raising doubts over whether the relief was needed, and the potential for positive discrimination towards the UK and a resultant "subsidy race" between EU states. Speaking to Joystiq, UKIE CEO Dr Jo Twist said her organization expects the proposal to be approved by the EU Commission despite those doubts, although there are apparent concerns over how long the process will take. "I think we're pretty confident it'll go through," Dr Twist told us."We know that the [UK] government is 100 percent committed - across all parties, as well, there's 100 percent commitment to get this through. UKIE also approached other creative industries - so film, animation, and TV - and they wrote a letter of support to say 'we want the games industry to have tax credits just like we do now.'" "We sort of weren't altogether surprised that [the European Commission] did this because the European Union is the European Union, and they have to go through these processes and ask the questions and make sure that they're asking the right questions," she added.
European players locked out of resubscribing to SOE's EverQuest II [Updated]
It's not easy to be a European fan of Sony Online Entertainment of late. When the company announced that European services would be handed over to ProSiebenSat.1, there was a lot of pushback, but some of that was mollified by the promise that European players with existing accounts could continue to play on US servers with US accounts. Except that for some EverQuest II players, that option now appears to have been locked out via limited credit card options. Users have reported that when trying to add or change a credit card, several EU countries are no longer listed as valid choices for the country of origin, preventing players from using these cards. Since there are no account transfers for SOE players to migrate to ProSiebenSat.1 accounts, this could mean locking players out of years of work on characters. SOE has made no official response regarding this issue, but it runs directly counter to what has been stated in the past regarding access and account ownership. We've contacted SOE for a response and will update with any further information. [Update: Dexella on the SOE forums has posted that the studio is "looking into the EU/credit card issue now." Thanks to Erissei and Zjeven for the tips!]
EU ending mobile roaming charges in 2014
Rejoice readers who live in the European Union! Soon you'll be able to pay the same rate for calls you make while traveling the 27 countries in the EU as you do at home. According to the UK newspaper the Telegraph, the European Union has announced an end to mobile roaming charges in 2014 as part of a package of major telecom reforms. Roaming fees for voice calls, texts and internet access will effectively be completely scrapped under the proposals, which are part of a broader effort to create a single European telecoms market. The group of 27 European Commissioners voted in Brussels on Tuesday to drive the package through in time for the European elections in May next year, to come into force as soon as 1 July 2014. Sadly these changes only apply to customers who live in the European Union; travelers from other countries are still stuck paying the fees.
EU Commission raises doubts over UK games tax relief, launching investigation
The European Commission announced an impending "in-depth investigation" into the UK tax relief for video games following doubts regarding its necessity. The breaks, announced last year by the UK government, are set to provide 25 percent tax relief on 80 percent of qualifying games' budget spent in the UK, a move long demanded by the country's ailing games industry. However, today's news raises serious doubts over whether or not they'll be implemented, with the EU Commission noting a number of concerns over the scheme.The European executive body not only doubts if the relief is needed to boost the country's games industry, but also noted the potential for positive discrimination towards "goods or services 'used and consumed' in the UK," as well as a "subsidy race" between EU states. The Commission also raised concerns over the proposed UK cultural test and whether or not that would produce "unique distortions of competition.""The market for developing video games is dynamic and commercially promising," said EU Commission VP of Competition Policy Joaquin Almunia. "It is not clear whether the taxpayer should be subsidizing this activity. Such subsidies could even distort competition."UK gaming trade body UKIE says it's "extremely disappointed" with the EU Commission's decision. In a response, UKIE noted such an investigation could delay the aid's implementation even if it was eventually approved."We believe this support is crucial in opening up the opportunity for developers to make culturally British games," said UKIE CEO Dr. Jo Twist, "But also as a vital incentive for development studios and large multinationals to base their development in the UK and nurture the talent here. We are still confident of having the scheme introduced and are fully committed to having it in place as soon as possible. A similar investigation into the French games tax relief system was successful but this took 12 months to conclude."While a recent report by UK trade association TIGA indicated some signs of recovery for the country's games industry, 2012 saw Wipeout team Studio Liverpool and 007 Legends dev Eurocom both close, as well as high street retailer GAME suffer financial meltdown.
European investigators to look at Apple carrier deals for possible antitrust violations
Apple is under fire in Europe for possible anti-competitive contracts with wireless carriers that allegedly stifle competition, said a report by The New York Times. No formal antitrust complaint has been filed, but the European Commission has supposedly asked carriers to provide information about their contracts with Apple. "We have been contacted by industry participants and we are monitoring the situation, but no antitrust case has been opened," said Joaquín Almunia, the EU's competition commissioner, in a statement provided to The New York Times through spokesperson Antoine Colombani. Sources, who were not identified by NYT, claim the focus of this inquiry are smaller European carriers, which have allegedly signed very strict contracts to carry the iPhone. Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris told The New York Times, "Our contracts fully comply with local laws wherever we do business, including the EU."
European Commission clears 2GHz bands for LTE use by 2014, claims 4G pipes wider than the US
European LTE deployments might just be getting started, but the European Commission is already trying to head off any bandwidth problems at the pass. The organization has ordered that 120MHz of normally 3G-only spectrum around the 2GHz band has to be reusable for LTE and other 4G networks by June 30th, 2014. Once the airwaves loosen up, the Commission sees its home continent having an advantage over an LTE-happy US: it expects to have as much as 1GHz of spectrum available for 4G, or potentially twice as much as what Americans might claim. Officials are also mulling plans to repurpose extra slices of 2GHz spectrum that haven't even been used for 3G and could offer that much more headroom. While an edge over the US in bandwidth might not last after policy changes, it's hard to complain if the EC move leads to future smartphones whose downloads stay speedy.
App Store prices increase in Europe
Apple caused a small stir yesterday when it raised the prices of apps in the European iTunes App Store. Customers were taken by surprise when the App Store went down and returned an hour later with higher prices. The minimum price of an app rose from €0.79 (US$1.00) to €0.89 ($1.15). Apple spokesman Alan Hely told Computerworld in an email that this adjustment affected only the European App Stores and is the result of changes in the exchange rate. Besides the pricing update, Apple also rolled out support for nine new currencies including Russian rubles, Turkish lira, Indian rupees, Indonesian rupiah, Israeli shekels, Saudi Arabian riyals, South African rand, United Arab Emirates dirhams and Danish kroner.
EU antitrust commission charges Microsoft over browser selection 'breach'
European regulators have charged Microsoft for not giving Windows 7 users a choice of internet browsers when they install the OS. Although this is only an initial step towards a fine for the software maker, Microsoft agreed with the European Commission to offer browser choices to its Windows users over three years ago, avoiding a heavy antitrust penalty. Unfortunately, while Microsoft acknowledged the "technical error", this wasn't before the European Commission picked up the issue -- the EU's antitrust watchdog said in July that Microsoft had not complied with the order from February 2011. According to a Reuters report earlier this year, and echoed in the EU's statement below, the fine could amount to as much as 10 percent of the Redmond company's global turnover. Update: Microsoft has issued a statement on the EU charge, received by The Verge. "We take this matter very seriously and moved quickly to address this problem as soon as we became aware of it. Although this was the result of a technical error, we take responsibility for what happened, and we are strengthening our internal procedures to help ensure something like this cannot happen again. We sincerely apologize for this mistake and will continue to cooperate fully with the Commission."
EU regulators urge Google to modify privacy policy, offers 12 recommendations (update: statement from Google)
It wasn't all that long after Google consolidated most of its privacy policies before people wanted clarification on what this meant to users. Even then, EU regulators weren't satisfied, asking the search giant to hold up a little while it took a proper look at the implications for European citizens. The result of that investigation? Well, Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding previously declared it to be in breach of European law, and now the EU is commanding that it be reexamined. The assertion comes in a letter to Mountain View from the EU's data protection regulators, who feel that consolidating so much personal data into one place creates untenable risks to privacy, and was signed by 24 member states (plus Liechtenstein and Croatia). The regulators also outlined 12 recommendations for Google to follow to bring its policy back to the favorable side of the fence. No official word from Google at this time, but we've reached out for comment. Update: Peter Fleischer, Google's global privacy counsel issued the following statement: "We have received the report and are reviewing it now. Our new privacy policy demonstrates our long-standing commitment to protecting our users' information and creating great products. We are confident that our privacy notices respect European law."
EU Digital Commissioner requests better European 4G Rollout
Apple and other device makers keep upping the ante on speed by building support for LTE into their latest devices, but that's of little use to citizens of several countries of the European Union. In many cases, their countries have no 4G networks or operate on frequencies not currently supported by the latest iPhone or iPad. Today, the EU's Commissioner for the Digital Agenda Neelie Kroes called for EU member nations to support a plan to invest funds in 4G network expansion and improvement. As Kroes told participants in a Brussels conference, "Without faster 4G roll-out, device makers won't take Europe into account when planning their latest smartphones." The BBC reported today that the UK may push for a faster 4G expansion, and many EU member countries seem interested in making this happen as well. The plan is to take about US$64.27 billion from the EU budget and invest in projects to expand the reach and availability of 4G spectrum. This would be a loan, designed to be paid back with interest. However, some countries have already expressed a desire to fund their own expansions rather than dipping into the EU coffers. Especially with the launch this year of the new iPad and iPhone 5, Apple's devices appear to be adding fuel to the debate to expand compatible 4G availability in the European Union.
Apple facing European investigation into how it sells AppleCare
Ever hemmed and hawed over buying AppleCare with your shiny new gadget? European chiefs are worried that you don't know all of your rights. They're concerned that Cupertino's warranty-selling practices hide the fact that all customers are entitled to a statutory two-year warranty to fix defects present at sale. The company has already had to open its checkbook to Italian regulators, but pointed out that the protection plan is there to remedy issues that may crop up after you've taken your new toy from its perfectly-engineered box. Nevertheless, commissioner Viviane Reding is pushing for a Europe-wide inquiry into the company, contacting all 27 member states to look into the matter. In the meantime, we're left working out how many times we're likely to drop our new device in the next three years.
Europe approves Universal - EMI merger, cements the dominance of the 'big three'
The European Union has signed off on Universal's $1.9 billion purchase of EMI music, provided that it sells off two-thirds of the fallen giant's assets to comply with competition regulations. The most notable jewel on the auction block is label Parlophone, home of the early Beatles records, Pink Floyd, Radiohead and Kylie. Chiefs added the conditions in the hope of preventing the new mega-corporation from gaining too much market share, but given that Sony (which bought EMI's publishing arm) and Warner Music are its only real competitors -- it's sealed the trio as the only guests at the top table of the music industry, problematic for anyone looking to found an iTunes or Spotify rival and doesn't fancy playing by their rules.
Apple appeases European lawmakers with Lightning-to-microUSB adapter
We do love products that only exist to circumvent the finer points of legislation (hello there, Aston Martin Cygnet), but even better are the ones that actually serve a purpose. To comply with the European Commission's insistence that all smartphones must have a microUSB connector, Apple is putting out a Euro-specific adapter for its new Lightning standard. It's turned up in the UK and French stores so far, setting you back £15 / €19 ($25) -- and we imagine it won't be long before some entrepreneurial soul starts buying them in bulk to sell to microUSB users Stateside.
European Commission investigating 13 companies for optical drive price fixing
The European Commission is digging it its heels and officially launching an investigation into 13 companies for allegedly rigging bids on optical drives with at least two major OEMs. The companies haven't been named, but it's safe to assume if the Commission is getting involved these aren't two-bit players selling cheap knockoffs. With the Statement of Objections issued, now its a matter of gathering evidence and formally charging those it can build a case against. With an e-book investigation underway and a DRAM conspiracy not far in its past, the existence of an optical drive cartel is probably not the sort of news the Commission wants to hear right now. Sadly, there's not much detail to share, but you'll find the complete and brief PR after the break. Now its just time to sit back and wait to see what companies we're allowed to start hating next.
Apple wins 'EU-wide' injunction against Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, denied on 10.1 ban
Word around the mulberry bush is that Apple has just won itself a Europe-wide injunction against the sale of the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7.7, in case anyone still wanted to buy that tablet now that the Nexus 7 is out. The decision was taken in-between beer courses at the appeals court in Dusseldorf, but it didn't all go Apple's way -- Cupertino's request to have the re-designed Galaxy Tab 10.1 (aka the 10.1N) banned too was rejected, having already been turned down at preliminary hearing back in February. The Tab 7.7 apparently infringes Apple patents that date from 2004 and, such is the power of one little German town, cannot technically be sold anywhere in the EU -- although other countries may choose to ignore the ruling and it's probably only a matter of time before a 7.7N comes out anyway. In contrast, the failed claim against the 10-inch slate hinged on a "generic design patent," which a British judge has also vehemently dismissed. Glossing over the 7.7 decision, Samsung says it "welcomes the court's ruling" with regard to the 10.1N and accuses Apple of using "legal claims" to restrict "design innovation and progress in the industry."
