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UK Further Restricts Microsoft and Activision Blizzard From Merging, While the EU May Approve Merger
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UK Further Restricts Microsoft and Activision Blizzard From Merging, While the EU May Approve Merger | MMORPG.com
The UK regulatory body that blocked the merger between the Activision Blizzard and Microsoft has added additional restrictions on both companies while the likelyappeal process plays out.
Comments
If Microsoft were just entertainment company they could decide to pull out of one country. But they're too major provider to governments that they could do it.
In US the idea that you negotiate your sentence is common, but in Europe it's usually not possible.
https://biturl.top/rU7bY3
Beyond the shadows there's always light
US government might not honor it, and very easy for MS to move all of their assets out of the UK so there is nothing left to seize.
Sure, MS would be giving up the right to sell in the UK, but that's more of a financial decision than anything else.
Likely the impact of not being able to purchase MS products would be more detrimental to the citizens and businesses in the UK rather than to MS.
When Brexit occured UK lost a lot of leverage, especially if EU disagrees and approves the deal.
"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
US government would likely honor any UK judgement, because it would go to US courts and there's plenty of precedents for honoring UK judgements.
Microsoft and Activision Blizzard could likely avoid problems with UK laws if they withdrew completely from UK before making the sale. But avoiding the judgement after they've broken the law would be really hard, it would basically require Microsoft moving everything to North Korea or some other country that has no intention of honoring UK judgements.
https://biturl.top/rU7bY3
Beyond the shadows there's always light
No, it would just mean MS would remove these products from the UK, you cant get sued for that. You can remove any products you own from any place you dont want to sell it. Its no different than Starbucks and McDonalds leaving Russia.
Those leaving Russia don't need to care about it that much since at the moment other countries won't recognize or enforce a lot of judgements made by Russian's courts. Foreign judgements are not normally enforced automatically, and instead the one who was judged gets a chance to argue why that judgement should not be enforced. At the moment any US company leaving Russia could likely argue lack of fair and impartial trial.
Whereas US company leaving UK would have really hard time trying to convince US judges that there's something wrong enough with UK justice system that would be good enough reason for why UK's judgement for something they did while they still operated in UK and under UK's jurisdiction would be unacceptable. If Microsoft wants to complete the trade without fear of UK's judgement, they need to remove UK's jurisdiction before they do the trade.
거북이는 목을 내밀 때 안 움직입니다
https://biturl.top/rU7bY3
Beyond the shadows there's always light
And if the rest of the world let's MS buy ABK, how long would it take for the UK citizens to lose their minds when they are cut off? How much of a bargaining chip would that be for MS when they pursue this in the courts?
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"True friends stab you in the front." | Oscar Wilde
"I need to finish" - Christian Wolff: The Accountant
Just trying to live long enough to play a new, released MMORPG, playing New Worlds atm
Fools find no pleasure in understanding but delight in airing their own opinions. Pvbs 18:2, NIV
Don't just play games, inhabit virtual worlds™
"This is the most intelligent, well qualified and articulate response to a post I have ever seen on these forums. It's a shame most people here won't have the attention span to read past the second line." - Anon
One of the posters asked about Sony, is Sony in the news not just the gaming news but MSM news about its practices? No, but if it was you can bet your console that these regularity bodies would find a sudden urgent need to investigate Sony if it was. There was a lawsuit last year but it hardly made a splash in MSM so the CMA are ignoring it. This is a real problem in my eyes, government departments focusing time and resources on the media's latest "big" story, rather than taking a look at the industry as a whole (part of the CMA's and doubtless any other such bodies remit) and from that beginning investigations.
As to the fact the UK is still unsure, I would not read too much into that, there always has to be one of these bodies that swings round last. After all the CMA followed the crowd to start their investigation and may well now follow the crowd to agree it with some "concessions" and what not.