Microsoft Set To Win EU Approval for LinkedIn Buy

Microsoft is set to gain EU approval for its $26 billion buy of professional social network LinkedIn with tweaks to concessions aimed at addressing competition concerns, three people close to the matter said on Wednesday. From a report on Reuters: Microsoft last week told the European Commission that it would still allow LinkedIn's rivals access to its software such as its Outlook program and give hardware makers the option of installing competing professional social networks on computers after the acquisition. The second plank of the concession is important because of the company's battle with the EU competition authority over the last decade and the policy of tying its products to block rivals, resulting in fines of more than 2.2 billion euros.

commence deleting LinkedIn account

[Anonymous Coward]

commence deleting LinkedIn account

Re:

[guruevi]

Why would you have one in the first place?

Re:

[Geek_Cop]

I've been directly hired off of LinkedIn, twice. The second was only $119,000 per year starting but was good enough for me....3 years later it still has paid off.

Re:

[hughbar]

Well done. I did that on the first day of the Microsoft announcement. Do some fun math (maths if you're a Brit, I am), it will cost Microsoft $26 billion and, if everyone deletes their account, it wil be worth nothing, nada, zilch. Even a partial decline change its (highly inflated) value.

Another one bites the dust

[Anonymous Coward]

Hotmail, Skype and now LinkedIn.

Anyone care to update this list?

Re:

[Anonymous Coward]

So. Many. Things.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]

It's hard to remember when things like VIsio weren't Microsoft-based

Re:

[Zontar The Mindless]

About 15 minutes after Visio 2K came out, would be my guess.

WTF does this sentence even mean?

[Anonymous Coward]

and give hardware makers the option of installing competing professional social networks on computers

How do you install a professional social network on a computer?

Re:

[unixisc]

That's what happens when you have a glorified international bureaucracy like the EU making up the rules

I really hope they get approval...

[c]

... sort of like how I hope that two people I dislike will meet, fall in love, then have a long dysfunctional life together that they can't break out of.

I hope this fails

[The_Revelation]

I understand that clauses like "It would still allow LinkedIn's rivals access to its software such as its Outlook program and give hardware makers the option of installing competing professional social networks on computers". I mean, technically you CAN use Google's Search Engine with Microsoft Windows 10. But at the same time, you need to install a non-MS browser, and even then, if you use Cortana, there is no way for you, as an Enterprise Administrator, to uninstall Microsoft's Pornographic Search Engine: BING. I for one will be closing my LinkedIn account and escape the Microsoft lock in which has traditionally been one of the primary selling points of using Linked In.

competition concern

[Errol backfiring]

Off course, competition concerns are very important. Privacy concerns, however, are not a concern at all, not even in Europe. No matter how many privacy laws there are.

Are there any alternatives

[Progman3K]

Are there any worthy alternatives to sites like LinkedIn?