Antitrust

Google has struck back against The Wall Street Journal after the newspaper published a rather scathing guest opinion piece lambasting the Internet giant.

Nextag CEO Jeffrey Katz wrote on Thursday evening that Google has ballooned into a monopoly, pegging its closest competition -- at least in the search space -- as one that has no hope of competing. (Interestingly enough, that's Bing, the search entry for Microsoft, which has had its own well-known monopoly-related issues in the past.)

Katz does have some solid evidence here, which is mainly statistics proving Google's dominance in the search field as well … Read more

The Federal Trade Commission plans to question Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as part of the ongoing antitrust probe of the Web powerhouse, Bloomberg reported today.

The report's unnamed sources said the Google executives have hired a top Washington law firm to prepare for the depositions. The firm, Williams & Connolly LLP, represented President Bill Clinton, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, and the late Senator Edward Kennedy, according to Bloomberg.

Google declined to comment on the depositions but did offer a statement.

"We are happy to explain our business to regulators and answer any questions … Read more

European Union competition commissioner Joaquin Almunia last month sent a notice to Google over concerns his office has with the search giant's alleged "abuses of dominance." And now, he's giving the company a deadline.

"On May 21, I sent a letter to Google underlining our concerns in its business practices that we identified in our preliminary investigations that started in November 2010," Almunia said in a speech today. "I want to give the company the opportunity to offer remedy proposals that would avoid lengthy proceedings. By early July, I expect to receive from … Read more

Google has been given an ultimatum by the European Commission: straighten up or we'll take you to court.

The search giant has been under the microscope of the EC over complaints that it has stifled competition in the search market by favoring its own businesses. Several companies have alleged that Google purposely tweaks its search results so that its own sites appear before those of potential rivals.

Until now, the EC been in no rush to launch formal charges against Google. But now the war of words has been ramped up a few notches.

Joaquin Almunia, the European Commission'… Read more

Google could face a rough time in the courtroom if the FTC's antitrust case against it goes to trial.

To determine whether Google violated antitrust laws, the Federal Trade Commission is using the big guns with attorney Beth Wilkinson, an ex-prosecutor for the Department of Justice.

Wilkinson has developed a reputation as a powerful and determined litigator, successfully handling several cases that have put her into the limelight, says Reuters. She was the prosecutor in the trial of Timothy McVeigh, arguing in favor of the death penalty for the Oklahoma City bomber. In private practice, she has defended tobacco … Read more

Competition regulators in Asia and Europe are ratcheting up the pressure on Google over charges of unfairly using its search dominance to compete with local rivals.

In Seoul, the Korean Fair Trade Commission, that country's antitrust agency, raided Google's offices this week, according to MLex, a subscription-only newsletter that focuses on European regulatory agencies. The agency raided Google's Seoul office last September, seeking information in its investigation of allegations that Google limits access to rival search engines on its Android mobile operating system.

And in Brussels, the European Union Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia sent a letter to … Read more

The European Union's competition commissioner says he's open to settling his antitrust investigation into Google's search practices.

Joaquin Almunia held a news briefing today, saying that his office would be willing to come to a "quick resolution on the competition issues" that Google is facing, so competition can be restored across the continent.

"Google has repeatedly expressed to me its willingness to discuss any concerns that the Commission might have without having to engage in adversarial proceedings," Almunia said. "This is why today I'm giving Google an opportunity to offer remedies … Read more

Simon & Schuster, one of the five major book publishers accused in multiple lawsuits of conspiring with Apple to fix e-book prices, has settled the complaint filed by numerous states' attorney generals, CNET has learned.

Denise Cote, the federal judge overseeing the three different antitrust complaints pending against Apple and the defendant publishers, granted a motion Tuesday to dismiss Simon & Schuster (owned by CNET's parent company, CBS) from the complaint. This suit was originally filed by the attorney generals from Texas as well as 15 other state AGs. More states have joined that suit as plaintiffs; 29 are … Read more

It's a good thing legal action is Mozilla's "last resort" for resolving its disagreement with Microsoft over bringing Firefox to the upcoming Windows RT, because it's likely a difficult antitrust case to make.

That's because Windows RT, the version of the operating system geared for devices using ARM processors, is a different beast than conventional Windows running on traditional x86 processors. Microsoft's present rules would hobble non-IE browsers on Windows RT, but the company's market power is with Windows on x86 chips.

ARM chips dominate today's smartphone and tablet devices running … Read more