Microsoft agrees to EU concessions

Microsoft and Time Warner have made concessions to overcome European anti-trust obstacles to their purchase of ContentGuard Inc., a maker of anti-piracy software, the European Commission said.

“The companies submitted remedies,’ said Commission spokesman Stefaan De Rynck. The commission will decide by August 25 whether to approve the purchase or open a four-month, in-depth probe.

At stake are attempts by Microsoft and Time Warner to set an industry standard for anti-piracy software used to distribute music and films over the Internet.