Game Over: Appeals Court Rejects FTC's Request to Halt Microsoft's Activision-Blizzard Acquisition

-
Game Over!

The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals today denied the Federal Trade Commission's petition seeking injunctive relief against Microsoft. This ruling paves the way for Microsoft to proceed with its acquisition of Activision Blizzard in the near future.

Microsoft's President Brad Smith welcomed the swift decision. He said in a statement:

We appreciate the Ninth Circuit’s swift response denying the FTC’s motion to further delay the deal. This brings us another step closer to the finish line in this marathon of global regulatory reviews.

While the court's ruling is a significant victory for Microsoft, a major obstacle remains in the form of the United Kingdom's Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA), which has already rejected the proposed merger. Citing concerns over potential unfair advantage in the emerging cloud gaming sector, the CMA has been engaged in negotiations with Microsoft to explore alternative terms for the merger.

With a deadline of July 18th, 2023 looming, Microsoft is likely eager to finalize the acquisition promptly to avoid incurring a $3 billion fine from Activision Blizzard and renegotiating the terms of the deal.

There is a possibility that Microsoft and the CMA can reach an agreement that allows for the official closure of the deal to purchase Activision Blizzard while still providing additional time to resolve outstanding matters with the CMA.

Sources:

TheVerge

Comments

Post a Comment

Trending Now

Meet Microsoft Graveyard - A Monument of Products Killed By Microsoft

-
Image
Much to my envy, a site I had long hoped to set up was established this week. I often wondered why there was no "Killed by Microsoft" counterpart to Google's "Killed by Google," and the wait is finally over. Launched by Victor Frye, the Microsoft Graveyard is an open-source compilation showcasing discontinued Microsoft-made software and hardware. It's worth noting that the site has no affiliations with Microsoft itself. According to the developer, the website is a "passion project" born out of a fondness for many of these products that met an untimely end. Among them are some of the recent casualties including WordPad , Visual Studio for Mac , Cortana , Windows Phone alongside some late distant memories like ASP.Net Web Matrix, Microsoft Bob, Windows Vista and Zune. The Microsoft Graveyard encourages contributions as it's an open-source project hosted on GitHub . You are welcome to add missing items, correct typos, suggest improveme
Read more

China's Impersonation And Misinformation Crackdown: 67K Accounts, 1.4M Posts Vanished

-
Image
The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) recently completed a two-month probe targeting social media activities, resulting in the deletion of over 1.4M posts and 67K accounts. The investigation focused on issues such as impersonation of government officials and the spread of misinformation. "Self-media" accounts, which are independent news and information sources not owned by the state, were particularly scrutinized, with popular apps like WeChat , Douyin , and Weibo being closely monitored. As part of the crackdown, the CAC specifically targeted fake military accounts (around 13K identified) and accounts impersonating public institutions (approximately 25K). Punishments were also meted out to 187K accounts for impersonating news media businesses and 430K accounts for providing professional advice or educational services without the necessary qualifications. This extensive social media cleanup campaign by the CAC follows similar actions in the past. Accoding to CAC ,
Read more

Apple's Siri Revolution: Say Goodbye to 'Hey Siri' and Hello to 'Siri'

-
Image
  Apple's upcoming WWDC conference in 2023 is set to bring a significant innovation to its voice assistant, Siri. Instead of the familiar "Hey Siri" command, Apple plans to simplify the activation by using just "Siri." This change aims to enhance user convenience and streamline the interaction. However, this modification comes with its challenges. Apple needs to teach Siri to understand different languages, accents, and dialects accurately. The goal is to ensure that Siri responds effectively to user commands, regardless of linguistic variations. It must be noted Apple has prohibited the use of ChatGPT and other AI assistant tools.   Alongside the trigger phrase update, Apple aims to expand Siri's compatibility with third-party apps and services. This move will enhance Siri's overall functionality and broaden its capabilities. Apple is also investing in the development of Siri's language abilities through a framework called Siri Natural Language Gene
Read more