The target, ContentGuard, is a leading provider of DRM
technology, which controls how copyrighted digital content, such as
DVDs or software, can be viewed, used, or abused.
Microsoft and Time Warner announced in April 2004 that they,
together with ContentGuard, had purchased most of the stake held in
that company by its original owner, Xerox.
The Commission began an investigation into the purchase in
August, after an initial review gave rise to fears that the
purchase of a leading DRM technology provider such as ContentGuard
might put Microsoft into a dominant position in that sector.
EU competition regulators were due to rule on the matter by 6th
January, but halted the review when Paris-based Thomson announced
in December that it had agreed to buy a 33% voting stake in
ContentGuard, potentially reducing the antitrust impact on the
market.
According to the Associated Press, the Commission has now
received additional information from the companies, enabling it to
restart the probe.
The investigation will still focus on the initial Microsoft-Time
Warner deal because Microsoft's sale of shares to Thomson took
place before Microsoft's initial purchase had been approved by the
Commission.
"The Commission has to assess to what extent the deal with
Thomson could have taken place without the initial deal,"
Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd told the Associated Press.
