antitrust

What an anti-Google antitrust case by the FTC may look like

SAN FRANCISCO -- It's not certain that Google will face a federal antitrust lawsuit by year's end. But if that happens, it seems likely to follow an outline sketched by Thomas Barnett, a Washington, D.C., lawyer on the payroll of Google's competitors.

Barnett laid out his arguments during a presentation here last night: Google is unfairly prioritizing its own services such as flight search over those offered by rivals such as Expedia, and it's unfairly incorporating reviews from sites like Yelp without asking for permission.

"They systematically reinforce their dominance in search and search … Read more

EU charges Microsoft over breach of 'browser ballot' commitments

European antitrust regulators have sent Microsoft a list of objections, charging the software giant with breaching its previous commitment to offer Windows users a choice of Internet browsers.

The formal statement of objections sent to Microsoft today outlines how the company failed to offer a "browser choice" screen to millions of Windows users, which it had agreed to do under a legally binding 2009 settlement with the European Commission.

The Commission said in a statement that it "takes the preliminary view that Microsoft has failed to roll out the browser choice screen with its Windows 7 Service … Read more

Google considers mobile patent antitrust settlement, report says

Google is considering a settlement with the Federal Trade Commission over the agency's claim that the search giant violated antitrust law when it didn't grant patent licenses to some of its mobile competitors, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

An unnamed source told the Journal that Google is weighing whether or not it should settle.

When asked for comment on a possible settlement, a Google spokeswoman said only:

"We take our commitments to license on fair, reasonable, and nondiscriminatory terms very seriously and are happy to answer any questions [from the FTC]."

CNET has contacted the … Read more

Google learns its Democratic political ties have bounds

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--Few Silicon Valley companies have ever embraced a political party as passionately as Google has. Its executive chairman, Eric Schmidt, has been described as a "kind of guru" to President Obama's campaign manager, and Google employees emerged as the No. 2 donor to the Democratic National Committee in the last election.

That love affair has now become a bit one-sided. Obama's pick to run the Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, a Democrat and former aide to Democratic senators, has been carefully preparing a legal assault on the search company.

Leibowitz took the unusual … Read more

Google's Larry Page makes first public appearance after illness

After a several month hiatus, Google's CEO Larry Page made his first public appearance today at his company's annual Zeitgeist conference in Arizona, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Page spoke to an audience of hundreds of people about the company's recent affairs, such as its battle with Apple over maps, its dealings with antitrust regulators, and Google's specialized services.

Last June, the 39-year-old Page was noticeably absent from Google's annual shareholders' meeting, he also didn't attend Google I/O or the second-quarter earnings call in July. At the time, Chairman Eric Schmidt said … Read more

Congressman to FTC: Don't mess with Google

A congressman has told the Federal Trade Commission that it better not do anything to hurt Google's business or Congress might have to step in and reduce the agency's power.

Rep. Jared Polis, a democrat from Colorado, weighed in on the FTC's antitrust probe into the search giant's dominance in the industry -- and the reported lawsuit that may come next -- in a letter sent to the commission last week (see letter below). The agency is looking into whether or not Google is using its dominance to hurt rivals.

Polis said Google provides an important … Read more

Google might face FTC search crackdown

The Federal Trade Commission wants to crack down on Google for using its search dominance to hurt rivals, according to a pair of reports published today.

Four of the FTC's five commissioners believe Google illegally used its position as the top search provider to hurt competition, according to a report from Reuters, which cites people familiar with the matter.

And The New York Times cited its own unnamed sources in reporting that the commission is preparing a 100-page staff memo recommending that the government sue.

The FTC, which has been investigating the situation for more than a year, will … Read more

Google offers to brand its own services to fix antitrust concerns

Google may be offering European regulators a new carrot in its effort to sidestep an antitrust suit.

Under a new proposal, Google would label its own in-house services to distinguish them from those of third parties among its search results, according to the Financial Times. The offer is Google's latest attempt to placate European Union regulators who say the search giant is crowding out the rest of the market.

"People familiar" with the proposal told the FT that Google would tag its own maps, stock quotes, airline details, and other information to clearly identify them in its … Read more

Robert Bork on antitrust: Google is no Microsoft

Robert Bork, the fiery former federal judge whose U.S. Supreme Court nomination battle galvanized a generation of conservative activists, spent the late 1990s arguing that Microsoft should be carved up into multiple pieces because of antitrust violations.

Bork, an antitrust scholar and author of a landmark book on the topic, is now saying that Google is no Microsoft.

In a new analysis released at an event in Washington, D.C., today, Bork offers a point-by-point refutation of claims that Google has violated the law or acted in an anticompetitive fashion. Rather, Bork says, it's a case of competitors' … Read more