Microsoft will soon make a final presentation to seek a settlement of the European Commission's probe into the U.S. software giant, a person close to the situation said.
The Commission was expected to take into account Microsoft's presentation and recent conditions imposed on the company by a U.S. court in its decision, the source said.
EU regulators have alleged that Microsoft (MSFT) unfairly damages rivals by bundling its Media Player with its ubiquitous Windows operating system. The commission also says Microsoft designed Windows to work better with its own server software than with that of rivals, taking away business from competitors who use Linux or other versions of the Unix operating system.
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Real opens up: RealNetworks made available the source code for sending video and audio over the Internet to other software and hardware makers.
The release of the code, called the Helix DNA Server, is part of RealNetworks' push to create a universal platform for sending and receiving digital media in order to fend off cross-town rival Microsoft (MSFT). Late in 2002, RealNetworks (RNWK) had already announced two other components of its Helix platform: the software player used to receive digital streams, and encoding software used to convert raw content into digital format.
With all three components, developers such as mobile-phone manufacturers can develop systems that can send and receive digital content in any format, said Dan Sheeran, VP of media systems at RealNetworks.
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Lobbyists gave party: Under scrutiny by an outside ethics agency, the Bush administration's top telecommunications administrator will officially report that lobbyists helped pay for a 2001 reception in her honor at her home.
The admission followed an AP story revealing that Nancy Victory allowed three wireless phone company lobbyists to help pay for the party, just 10 days before she urged immediate repeal of restrictions that the biggest wireless companies had complained about for years.
Victory refused to identify any of the guests at the Oct. 14, 2001, reception. The cost of the catered party is also unknown. A lobbyist for one of the wireless companies, SBC (SBC), paid approximately $480 out of her own pocket, the company said. Lobbyists for Cingular Wireless and Motorola (MOT) also helped pay for the event. There were six co-hosts in all, including an attorney at Victory's old law firm, Wiley Rein & Fielding, where her husband is a partner.
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Sprint soothes strikers: Sprint (FON) reached tentative deals with workers in five states who had threatened to walk off the job if contract issues were not settled before an early afternoon deadline.
The strike would have affected about 2,700 local telephone employees in Florida, Indiana, Oregon, Tennessee and North Carolina who are represented by the union.
John Howard, assistant to the VP for the Communications Workers of America telecommunications division, said the company reached agreements with workers in all five states. Employees still must approve the deals.
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Tech consulting consolidates: Forrester Research said it planned to acquire rival Giga in a consolidation of high-tech advisory firms.
Forrester (FORR) valued the acquisition at $58 million to $62 million.
If completed, the acquisition would add 275 Giga employees to 367 currently at Forrester and give the merged company 900 new clients. Forrester said it planned at least initially to have Giga operate under its own name.
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Stockholders dispute pay: A deal that could pay nearly $41 million to the two top executives at bankrupt Adelphia has come under fire from a committee representing the company's stockholders.
In letters to the company's directors, Adelphia's equity committee said it intends to fight the proposed compensation deals for William Schleyer and Ron Cooper, who were picked as Adelphia's new CEO and COO last week.
The committee, made up of stockholders who have lost millions of dollars as Adelphia's stock value has plunged, said it would urge the bankruptcy court to reject the pay deal as too lucrative.
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Microsoft enters conferencing: Moving into a new realm, Microsoft is buying a company that provides Web-based conferencing services, hoping to spark growth in the software giant's maturing business software unit.
Microsoft (MSFT) and PlaceWare declined to disclose terms of the deal. The acquisition is expected to close in the first quarter.
Privately held PlaceWare found increased interest among corporate clients after the Sept. 11 attacks and a weak business environment left many companies seeking alternatives for business travel.
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Tivo boss resigns: Morgan Guenther, president of digital-video-recorder maker Tivo, announced his resignation, effective Jan. 31.
Guenther joined TiVo (TIVO) in 1999 and became president in October 2001. He oversaw strategic alliances and helped develop the company's business model. Lesley Gold, a TiVo spokeswoman, said Guenther considered it an opportune time because he had accomplished his goals.
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NYC WorldCom trial: The accounting fraud trial of a former WorldCom executive will remain in Manhattan and begin in September, a judge decided.
Ruling from the bench, U.S. District Judge Barbara Jones rejected a defense motion asking her to throw out conspiracy charges against Scott Sullivan because they were improperly filed in Manhattan.
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Lara not ready: Computer games publisher Eidos says the new Lara Croft game -- The Angel of Darkness -- has been delayed once again and now will not be released until April at the earliest.
The latest delay comes after Eidos (EIDSY) announced last October that the game would miss the Christmas market and come out in February.
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Rage runs out: It's game over for Britain's video-game publisher Rage after receivers realized they could not sell off enough assets to keep the company operating, the accountants handling the matter said.
Socked with mounting debt, the video-game developer behind such titles as David Beckham Soccer and Rocky went into receivership last week. Rage had been worth $800 million at the height of the tech-share boom in March 2000.
The company shut down its four production studios and laid off all but 17 of its 162 employees, said Ernst & Young, the accountants assigned to find a buyer.
AP and Reuters contributed to this report.
