The New York Times > Business > World Business > Europe Opens Another Microsoft Inquiry

The New York Times > Business > World Business > Europe Opens Another Microsoft Inquiry "The European Commission has opened an investigation into the planned acquisition of ContentGuard Holdings by Microsoft and Time Warner, a commission spokeswoman said Wednesday. ContentGuard specializes in software that protects digital material from counterfeiting.
Microsoft is already the world's largest supplier of digital rights management software, which comes packaged with the latest version of its audio- and video-playing software, Media Player.
Microsoft uses ContentGuard technology under a license in its development of rights management systems and services.
In April, Microsoft and Time Warner announced that they would acquire a majority of ContentGuard, a small company spun out of the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center, leaving Xerox as a minority owner.
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Competitors in digital rights management software include the California-based InterTrust Technologies, which was acquired last year by Sony and its Dutch consumer electronics rival, Philips Electronics."