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European Union regulators are examining the contracts Apple strikes with cellphone carriers that sell its iPhone for possible antitrust violations after several carriers complained that the deals throttled competition.

Although they have not filed formal complaints, a group of European wireless carriers recently submitted information about their contracts with Apple to the European Commission, according to a person briefed on the communications with the carriers who asked not to be identified. This person said the accusations focused on Apple’s contracts with French carriers, though other countries may also be involved. In a statement, the European Commission, the union’s administrative arm, which oversees antitrust enforcement in the 27-nation bloc, confirmed that it was examining Apple’s carrier deals. But it said it had not begun a formal antitrust investigation. The commission is not obligated to act until it receives a formal complaint of anticompetitive behavior. That it is already examining the contracts suggests that it is taking the carriers’ concerns seriously.

The U.S. is applying money-laundering rules to "virtual currencies," amid growing concern that new forms of cash bought on the Internet are being used to fund illicit activities.

The move means that firms that issue or exchange the increasingly popular online cash will now be regulated in a similar manner as traditional money-order providers such as Western Union. They would have new bookkeeping requirements and mandatory reporting for transactions of more than $10,000. Moreover, firms that receive legal tender in exchange for online currencies or anyone conducting a transaction on someone else's behalf would be subject to new scrutiny, said proponents of Internet currencies.

[Commentary] Courts shouldn't assume that copyright law was designed to protect copyright holders' slowly evolving business models. If Congress wants to outlaw the kind of "gray market" importing that Kirtsaeng practiced, it can do so explicitly. But there are many other industries that have found ways to deter those practices without the aid of copyright law — for example, by using contracts to keep tight control over foreign retailers. Courts have to balance copyright holders' interests against the public's ability to access those works and exercise the rights of ownership. In the Kirtsaeng ruling, the justices restored that balance.

Mexico’s lower house of Congress gave overwhelming general approval to a telecoms bill that seeks to curb the power of some of the country’s most powerful businessmen. The approval, by 414 votes to just 50 against, marks the first big step towards introducing more competition into telecoms and television as part of a wider push to make Latin America’s second-largest economy more competitive and grow faster.

Introduced by centrist President Enrique Peña Nieto, who took office just three months ago, the bill proposes the creation of a tough industry regulator able to label as “dominant” any company with more than 50 per cent of the telecoms or television markets. It could then impose a series of measures – ranging from asymmetric tariff structures all the way to forcing asset sales – to limit those companies’ power and to make it easier for new entrants to compete more effectively. At the same time, the bill proposes to raise the legal maximum shareholding of foreign investors in companies operating in the sectors – to 49 per cent in the case of television and to 100 per cent in the case of telecoms. Analysts say that the two companies most affected would be América Móvil, the pan-American telecoms company controlled by Carlos Slim, the world’s richest man, and Televisa, the Mexican broadcaster.