Valve fails to get out of paying its EU geo-blocking fine

Valve has failed to convince a court that it didn't infringe EU law by geo-blocking activation keys, according to a new ruling. The company argued that, based on copyright law, publishers had the right to charge different prices for games in different countries. However, the EU General Court confirmed that its geo-blocking actions "infringed EU competition law"and that copyright law didn't apply."Copyright is intended only to ensure for the right holders concerned protection of the right to exploit commercially the marketing or the making available of the protected subject matter, by the grant of licences in return for payment of remuneration," it wrote in a statement. "However, it does not guarantee them the opportunity to demand the highest possible remuneration or to engage in conduct such as to lead to artificial price differences between the partitioned national markets."The original charges centered around activation keys. The commission said Valve and five publishers (Bandai Namco, Capcom, Focus Home, Koch Media and ZeniMax) agreed to use geo-blocking so that activation keys sold in some countries — like Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary and Latvia — would not work in other member states. That would prevent someone in, say, Germany buying a cheaper key in Latvia, where prices are lower. However, doing so violates the EU's Digital Single Market rules, which enforces an open market across the EU. The five developers were given a reduced fine of €7.8 million (over $9.4... Continue reading at 'Engadget'

[ Engadget | 2023-09-27 12:20:53 UTC ]
News tagged with: #koch media #zenimax agreed #czech republic #member states #germany buying #cheaper key #open market #reduced fine #full €1 #locking keys #region locks #local laws #original €1 #ten days #copyright law

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Axel Springer Tells Bild Readers to Turn Off Ad Blockers or Pay

Axel Springer has told the readers of Germany's most popular online news site to turn off their ad blockers or pay a fee as Europe's biggest newspaper publisher steps up efforts to protect advertising income.Readers of Bild.de, the Web version of Europe's top-selling newspaper, have to disable... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-10-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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‘We must go back to our roots:’ UK publishers take a stand on ad blocking

Alarmed by the rise of ad blocking software use, publishers are starting to recognize their contribution to the problem. At Digiday's Europe Publishing Summit in Barcelona this week, leading European publishers talked about the need to restore the reader experience. As News U.K.'s Alessandro de... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Epic Fail: Texas Textbook Sanitizes Slavery form US History

A Texas textbook published by McGraw-Hill described US slaves as 'workers,' prompting massive protests on social media and promise of a change. The post Epic Fail: Texas Textbook Sanitizes Slavery form US History appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-10-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Google AMP battles ad-blocking, Apple and Facebook by cutting load times

Search company unveils Accelerated Mobile Pages in bid to work with publishers, ad companies and rival platforms Google is attempting to counter the threat from ad-blocking and rivals Facebook and Apple by radically improving the loading speed of web pages on smartphones and tablets.Accelerated... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why The Soft-Sell Approach to Ad Blocking Doesn't Work

It’s a growing problem for ad-supported publishers: How do you get people to stop using ad blocking software?   Short of forcing them to see ads they don’t want to, many publishers including The Washington Post, Atlantic and ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Publishers Worry That Native Ads Are Vulnerable to Ad Blocking

As the digital publishing industry wrestles with the rise of ad blocking, one popular notion is that native ads will be the answer to the industry’s ills.   Even Yahoo Chief ExecutiveMarissa Mayer has championed native ads as havi ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Why the soft-sell approach to ad blocking doesn’t work

It’s a growing problem for ad-supported publishers: How do you get people to stop using ad blocking software? Short of forcing them to see ads they don’t want to, many publishers including The Washington Post and Atlantic are trying to appeal to them with polite entreaties. But some say the soft... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-10-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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UK publishers mixed on how to combat ad blocking

New research from the U.K.'s Association of Online Publishers shows that 65 percent of publishers count ad blocking as a serious threat. We asked publishers including Condé Nast and the Economist, how to solve the problem. The answers range from a call for industry standards to moving toward a... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-10-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The IAB Calls Ad Blocking 'Highway Robbery' and Ramps Up Its Call to Arms

Scott Cunningham, svp at the Interactive Advertising Bureau and general manager of the IAB Tech Lab, told Adweek after a press conference today that he's been privy to ad-blocking data from major publishers that have recently begun using software that detects ad blocking. Pressed to characterize... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2015-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Legal War on Ad Blocking May Be a Loser, if Recent German Rulings Are Any Guide

The ad industry is looking into whether it has potential legal remedies against ad blockers in the U.S., but the issue is already playing out in German courts -- in favor of the blockers.The regional court in Cologne ruled this week, for example, in favor of Adblock Plus and Eyeo, the company... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-09-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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IAB Starts Publicity and Engineering Battle Against Ad Blocking

The Interactive Advertising Bureau elevated its fight against ad blockers on Tuesday, with President-CEO Randall Rothenberg renewing what he called his "cri de coeur" against the practice and showcasing small publishers being hurt by the practice. The organization also said it was taking new... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2015-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Labour would 'aggressively' target Amazon and Google to pay fair tax

Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell has said the party has “aggressive” plans to make corporations such as Amazon, Google Starbucks and Vodafone pay their “fair share of taxes”. In his first speech as shadow chancellor at the Labour Conference taking place in Brighton this week, McDonnell... Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2015-09-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Poland’s OpenBooks.com Asks, Is Pay-After-You-Read Sustainable?

OpenBooks.com lets the customer download an ebook and the pay what they feel the book is worth. However, is this business model sustainable? The post Poland’s OpenBooks.com Asks, Is Pay-After-You-Read Sustainable? appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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How A Quiet, Failed Comic Book Artist Conquered Hollywood's Nightlife Scene

Franki Chan was once unemployed and broke. Today, his IHEARTCOMIX empire works with the likes of The Rolling Stones and Skrillex.Franki Chan is an unlikely nightlife king. Now in his late 30s and softspoken, his big professional ambition earlier in life was to work as a comic book artist. But... Continue reading at Fast Company

[ Fast Company | 2015-09-25 00:00:00 UTC ]
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publishers stop the ad blocking wave?

Apple’s new iPhone tweak empowers users and marks an advertising watershedLast Wednesday Apple rolled out the latest version of its iOS operating system, and it came with a very nasty sting in the tail for newspapers, magazines and online publishers everywhere. A relatively small tweak means... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-09-20 00:00:00 UTC ]
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EU Prize for Literature Winners on Display in Frankfurt

Get to know the winners of the European Union Prize for Literature at the Frankfurt Book Fair and find out about translation funding for these books. The post EU Prize for Literature Winners on Display in Frankfurt appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-09-04 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Ad blocking could spell the end of the intrusive ad

Revenue-hungry publishers have been cramming more high-impact ads onto their sites, but the growing spectre of ad blocking could be the nail in the coffin for some of those obnoxious units. Early data from Moat Ad Blocking Analytics suggests 10 to 15 percent of all premium publishers’ desktop ad... Continue reading at Digiday

[ Digiday | 2015-09-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Rupert Murdoch takes 40% News Corp pay cut to $5.1m

Mogul receives fewer stock awards after company plunges to $149m loss, as it is revealed he met Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon in New York in JuneRupert Murdoch took a 40% pay cut for the year ending 30 June as his total package for being executive chairman of News Corp fell from $8.7m... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2015-09-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Life After Content Blocking

Ad blocking started as an initiative by independent developers who wanted to improve our browsing experience. Now that at least one company, Apple, has made Content Blocking “official”, ad-supported publishing business models are ... Continue reading at Editor & Publisher

[ Editor & Publisher | 2015-08-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon+Baby+Cancer+Book Editor = Epic Fail

While Editorial Director of Amazon Publishing, Julia Cheiffetz had a baby and got cancer, only to have her insurance cancelled and her responsibilities cut. The post Amazon+Baby+Cancer+Book Editor = Epic Fail appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives

[ Publishing Perspectives | 2015-08-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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