30/06/2008 (Agence Europe) - On 25 June 2008, the European Commission approved the proposed acquisition of Germany's pay-TV operator Premiere AG by News Corporation (News Corp.) of the US. Following consultation of market players in Germany and Austria, the Commission was concerned by the proposal to replace conditional access technology (encryption for pay-per-view channels) with that of News Corp's subsidiary NDS. The effect of this would be to allow the newly-created entity to restrict the broadcasting of competing programmes or channels on Premiere's satellite platform. To address these concerns, News Corp undertook to delegate management of access systems to a technical services provider who would occupy a neutral role between the broadcasting platform and programme distributors. The Commission concluded that the commitments submitted by News Corp. would eliminate the competition concerns identified. (C.D./transl.rt)