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Sanctions

U.S., Allies to Ban Sale of iPods, Luxury Items to North Korea

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 29, 2006 - 2:40pm.
Washington - The Bush Administration is proposing "luxury" sanctions against North Korea that would prevent the country's leader, Kim Jong Il, from obtaining items like iPods, plasma TVs, expensive cars, caviar and foreign liquors, the Associated Press reported.
tags: Korea | CE | Military | Asia | International | iPods | Politics | Sanctions | North Korea |

European Court Orders Microsoft to Comply with Sanctions

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 4, 2005 - 3:28am.
Brussels -- Judge Bo Vesterdorf, president of the European Court of First Instance, has ruled that Microsoft, in spite of the company's ongoing appeal, must comply with penalties the European Commission imposed last year. "The evidence adduced by Microsoft is not sufficient to show that implementation of the remedies imposed … might cause serious and irreparable damage," the Commission said. Microsoft must now offer a version of its Windows operating system without Media Player, as well as share more technical information with competitors. Last March, the Commission ruled that Microsoft had abused its operating systems monopoly to manipulate the European media player market. But the penalties were temporarily suspended after the software giant claimed compliance would cause it "irreparable damage" and requested an emergency stay. Microsoft said it would comply with the ruling and that it was hopeful the issues highlighted by the Court would "create an opportunity for the parties to discuss settlement."
tags: Law | Microsoft | European Court | Sanctions |

European Commission Suspends Sanctions Against Microsoft

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on June 28, 2004 - 7:23am.
Brussels -- The European Commission said on Sunday that it has suspended its ruling that Microsoft must offer a new version of the Windows operating system without its media player software. Microsoft appealed the decision earlier this month. Last weekend, the Commission said it would not enforce the sanctions until the Court of First Instance in Luxembourg decided whether to suspend them pending the outcome of Microsoft's appeal. In its prior ruling, the Commission fined the U.S. software giant 497 million euro ($605 million) and ordered it to share information with rivals and start selling a new version of Windows without the Windows Media Player. On Sunday, the Commission said it was inappropriate to enforce the sanctions before the court had made its decision on the appeal, which analysts say could drag on for several years.
tags: Microsoft | Sanctions | European Commission | Suspends |

South Korea Added to List of Pirate-Friendly Nations; May Face Sanctions

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on January 9, 2004 - 3:53am.
Washington -- The Bush administration on Thursday added South Korea, a nation where two-thirds of the residents have high-speed Internet access, to its "priority watch list" of countries that have lax protection against music and movie piracy, The Washington Post reported. South Korea is now among countries including Russia, Taiwan and India that the U.S. has asked to pass tougher anti-piracy laws and foster enforcement or else face trade sanctions. "Open markets and the protection of intellectual property are critical to the continued growth of our economy, and we'll vigorously press our trading partners to follow the rules," said U.S. Trade Representative Robert B. Zoellick. "We express the position that it is very disappointing and regrettable," Hyunju Lee, counselor for economic affairs at the South Korean embassy, told The Times. "We did our best effort and made substantial improvements in the [intellectual property] protection area in cooperation with the U.S. during the last year. In view of that, we cannot understand why they added us to the watch list."
tags: Sanctions | South Korea | Pirate-Friendly |