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"Cisco has said that it will challenge Microsoft&amp;#039;s $8.5bn (\u00A35.4bn) merger with Skype at the European Court of Justice. The networking firm is calling on the European Commission to ensure that the Windows platform holder does not place restrictions on rival video services in the wake of the deal. In October last year, the European Union ruled that Microsoft&amp;#039;s takeover of Skype would not impede competitors. However, Cisco believes that open standards similar to those adopted by the mobile phones industry should be in place. &amp;quot;Cisco does not oppose the merger, but believes the European Commission should have placed conditions that would ensure greater standards-based interoperability,&amp;quot; Cisco&amp;#039;s video conferencing head Martin De Beer said. Microsoft&amp;#039;s takeover of Skype is its biggest acquisition to date. The software giant has pledged to bring the communication tool to 1 billion worldwide users. Cisco offers its own video conferencing platform called WebEx, which could be used in conjunction with Skype and other software if open standards are introduced. &amp;quot;Making a video-to-video call should be as easy as dialling a phone number,&amp;#039;&amp;#039; De Beer added. &amp;quot;Today, however, you can&amp;#039;t make seamless video calls from one platform to another, much to the frustration of consumers and business users alike.&amp;quot; European Commission spokesman Antoine Colombani said that the executive body is willing to defend its decision on Microsoft&amp;#039;s Skype takeover in court. Watch a video demonstrating Skype&amp;#039;s Facebook integration below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tech/news/a366145/cisco-to-challenge-microsofts-skype-buyout-at-eu-court/>