Brussels - The European Commission has cleared Sony's (NYSE: SNE) proposed $1.2 billion acquisition of Bertelsmann's 50% stake in their joint record label venture, Sony BMG, concluding that "the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition." The Commission said it did not find concern with Sony BMG and Sony/ATV's potential control of joint licensing of publishing and recording rights to online music retailers, nor with Sony's consumer electronics business, which makes music-related devices like MP3 players and mobile phones.

Paris - The World Association of Newspapers (WAN), an international trade group of 18,000 newpapers, announced on Monday that it has petitioned the U.S. Justice Department, European Commission and Competition Bureau of Canada to block Google's (NASD: GOOG) proposed deal to provide search advertising for Yahoo (NASD: YHOO).

Brussels - A proposal to extend copyright term lengths from 50 to 95 years has passed in the European Commission, and will now move to a vote before the European Parliament.

Brussels - The European Union has done away with the byzantine music royalty collection scheme that forced digital music services to acquire licenses to operate in each individual country, opting to instill a Europe-wide license for such services. Companies like Apple had pointed to the previous system as the cause of delays in rolling out its iTunes Store across Europe, and U.K.-based digital music retailer 7digital described the decision as "a blessing for us" to PaidContent UK.

Luxembourg - The European Union's highest court has overturned a lower court's ruling that

Paris - The French government, which is preparing a law that would compel Internet service providers there to disconnect customers who repeatedly download music or other media on illicit file-sharing networks, has proposed a similar "three strikes" law for all of Europe, The Register reports.

Brussels - The European Commission has recommended that the video game industry there invest further in its ratings system, as well as adopt a code of conduct on the sale of games to minors within two years. "Videogames have become a strong pillar of Europe's content industry and are experiencing booming sales," said EU media commissioner Viviane Reding. "This is welcome but implies greater responsibility for the industry to ensure that parents know what kind of games their children play."

Brussels - The European Commission on Monday announced that it will adopt a mobile TV standard developed by Nokia (NYSE: NOK) and partners, in a bid to help jump start the nascent industry.

Mountain View, Calif. - Google (NASD: GOOG) announced on Tuesday that it has received approval from the European Commission for its $3.1 billion acquisition of online advertising giant DoubleClick, and completed the transaction. "With DoubleClick, Google now has the leading display ad platform, which will enable us to rapidly bring to market advances in technology and infrastructure that will dramatically improve the effectiveness, measurability and performance of digital media for publishers, advertisers and agencies, while improving the relevance of advertising for users," said Google chairman and CEO Eric Schmidt.

Brussels - Financial news and information publisher Thomson (NYSE: TOC) has won conditional approval from the European Commission to acquire international news agency Reuters (NASD: RTRSY), agreeing to divest certain businesses that include databases with financial information products before the deal proceeds.

Brussels - Apple (NASD: AAPL) is close to settling charges it broke European Union rules by operating iTunes Stores with different pricing in different EU countries, and will likely announce steps it will take to resolve the matter this week, Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the situation.

Brussels - The European Commission said on Wednesday that France may offer a tax break to video game developers in the country creating titles with cultural content, the Associated Press reports.