[1/3] The Google LLC logo is seen at the Google Store Chelsea in Manhattan, New York City, USA, November 17, 2021. REUTERS/Andrew Kelly/File Photo
BRUSSELS, May 23 (Reuters) – Members of the Alliance for Open Media (AOM), whose members include Alphabet ( GOOGL.O ) Google, Amazon ( AMZN.O ), Apple ( AAPL.O ) and Meta, may on Tuesday face an anti-trust case against the European Union. Well after regulators close an investigation into the video licensing policy.
The European Commission, which acts as competition enforcer for the 27 countries, has been investigating AOM for anti-competitive behavior since last year in relation to a new standard software distribution license agreement.
“The Commission has decided to close the investigation for reasons of priority. The closure is not about compliance or non-compliance with the conduct in question under EU competition rules,” a spokesperson for the EU executive said in an email.
“The Commission will continue to monitor competition-related issues that have a significant impact on the EU market in relation to formal essential patents.”
The Alliance for Open Media (AOMedia) welcomed the move.
“Royalty-free licensing is a fundamental part of technology standards and an open internet, encouraging innovation, choice and competition in the interests of EU and global businesses and consumers,” AOM said in a statement.
AV1 is an open, royalty-free video encoding software designed for streaming video over the Internet, and is used by Netflix ( NFLX.O ) and YouTube, as well as Google Chrome and Firefox.
Other AOM members are Netflix, Broadcom ( AVGO.O ), Cisco ( CSCO.O ), Tencent ( 0700.HK ), Intel ( INTC.O ), Huawei ( HWT.UL ), Mozilla, Samsung ( 005930.KS ) and . Nvidia (NVDA.O)
Companies that breach EU antitrust laws face fines of up to 10% of their worldwide revenue.
Reporting by Foo Yun Chee
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