Q: Although deeply disapproved of in the Soviet Union , the Beatles popularity knew no bounds and far outreached any other Western rock music .

Although the Beatles were deeply disapproved of in the Soviet Union , their popularity knew no bounds and far outreached any other Western rock groups .

Please tell me if the sentences above mean the same.
A: yes
Q: Peter Lyman and Hal Varian of Berkeley 's School of Information Management and Systems say that information production has increased by 30 percent each year between 1999 and 2002 .

That task appealed to two masters of the megabyte , Peter Lyman and Hal Varian , professors at the University of California-Berkeley 's School of Information Management and Systems .

Please tell me if the sentences above mean the same.
A: no
Q: But while Microsoft 's share of the low-end server software market has increased since the EU 's investigation started five years ago , the firm has denied anti-competitive practices are to blame .

Microsoft 's share of the low-end server software market has increased since the probe started five years ago , but the firm denied anti-competitive practices were the reason for this .

Please tell me if the sentences above mean the same.
A:
yes