Competition Policy
Ticketmaster merger threatens consumer interest - Public interest and consumer groups ask DOJ to block merger
Submitted by Manon Ress on 2. December 2009 - 10:20Washington, DC. December 1, 2009. Five of the nation’s most prominent public interest groups today called on the Department of Justice (DOJ) to block the proposed merger by entertainment giants Ticketmaster and Live Nation. DOJ is currently reviewing the merger and is expected to make a decision in the next month. The organizations include Consumer Action, the National Consumers League (NCL), the American Antitrust Institute, the Consumer Federation of America and Knowledge Ecology International.
59 U.S. Senators write the EU to support Oracle acquisition of MYSQL
Submitted by James Love on 28. November 2009 - 7:53On the 24th of November, 59 U.S. Senators wrote the European Union, asking that the Oracle/Sun merger be allowed, without addressing the anticompetitive aspects of the Oracle acquisition of MySQL. The letter reflects the enormous influence wielded by Oracle, a company that generates enormous fees licensing database software to the federal government.
Letter to the EC opposing Oracle's acquisition of MySQL
Submitted by Staff on 19. October 2009 - 16:30The following is a letter that KEI, Richard Stallman and ORG have sent to the European Commission, asking the European Commission to prevent Oracle from acquiring MySQL as part of its acquisition of Sun. The European Commission has the authority to require a divestiture of MySQL, so that it would not be part of the merger, in order to ensure that MySQL would operate independently, or be sold to a different company that would not face the same conflicts as Oracle does. KEI would have raised similar objections if Microsoft was the proposed buyer of MySQL.
Timeline: Some important dates for MySQL and the proposed Oracle/Sun merger
Submitted by Malini Aisola on 5. October 2009 - 13:071994
Michael Widenius and David Axmark start developing MySQL
1995
Software company MySQL AB founded by Michael Widenius, David Axmark and Allan Larsson
23 May 1995
First internal release of MySQL
April 1998
Michael Kunze coins the acronym LAMP for an open source web server software bundle comprised of Linux, Apache HTTP Server, MySQL, and PHP/Perl/Python
07 October 2005
Gilead Dispute
Wednesday, 07 July 2004
KEI asks US Federal Trade Commission to Investigate Gilead effort to control market for AIDS drugs ingredients: (press release, complaint).
KEI asks FTC to Investigate Gilead Effort To Control Market For AIDS Drugs Ingredients
Press Release
15 Feb 07
FMI James Love +1.202.332.2670, cell +1.202.361.3040, james.love@keionline.org
(See attachment for patent and health experts contact information)
FTC ASKED TO INVESTIGATE GILEAD EFFORT TO CONTROL MARKET FOR AIDS DRUGS INGREDIENTS
[Complaint available here:
http://www.keionline.org/misc-docs/ftcgilead12feb07.pdf ]
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMS): Some Examples of Joint Ventures, Partnerships and Alliances
Tuesday, 28 August 2007
Joint Ventures, Partnerships and Alliances with Big Pharma (recent alliance updates can be found here):
Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership - This partnership sells and markets Plavix®. In 2006, the Bristol-Myers Squibb Sanofi Pharmaceuticals Holding Partnership sold in excess of $3.5 billion of Plavix® in the United States.
Novartis (NVS): Some Examples of Joint Ventures, Partnerships, and Alliances
Wednesday, 29 August 2007
According to the Novartis strategic alliances webpage, the company is engaged in "More than 400 collaborations in over 20 countries, over 120 collaborations with major biotech companies, and over 280 collaborations with academic centers."
Selected Joint Ventures, Partnerships, and Alliances with Big Pharma
Novartis and Bayer Schering AG - PTK/ZK - These two companies initially collaborated in the devel
GlaxoSmithKline (GSK): Selected Joint Ventures, Partnerships, and Alliances
Friday, 31 August 2007
Selected Joint Ventures, Partnerships, and Alliances with Big Pharma
GlaxoSmithKline and Roche - Xenical - In April 2005 GSK and Roche signed a promotion agreement for a weight-loss drug called Xenical (orlistat). Shortly after the entry into force of the agreement, GSK representatives began meeting with doctors to sell Xenical. According to a Roche press release, "Under the terms of the agreement GSK obtains the e
