ftc

FTC, EU to postpone Google antitrust decisions, report says

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission's final decision on its 20-month long antitrust probe of the search giant will be delayed until next year, Bloomberg reported late yesterday after speaking with unnamed sources.

The results of the probe were expected to be announced this week.

The Mountain View, Calif.-based company has been in talks with the FTC over the past two weeks, and according to Bloomberg, Google has been preparing a letter with voluntary changes to try to end the FTC's investigation without it resulting in a formal settlement or eventual lawsuit.

In addition, the FTC has … Read more

SpongeBob disappears from app store after privacy criticism

Anyone wanting to download the SpongeBob Diner Dash game from Apple's iTunes app store today is out of luck.

Nickelodeon has removed the app from the store after an advocacy group filed a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission alleging the game violated children's online privacy rights by collecting their e-mail addresses without parents' permission.

According to the Center for Digital Democracy, which filed the complaint earlier today, cable network Nickelodeon and mobile game-maker PlayFirst are misleadingly marketing the game and are violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA).

SpongeBob Diner Dash is a free app … Read more

Google will alter search to end FTC antitrust inquiry, says report

The Federal Trade Commission may bring its two-year antitrust investigation of Google to a close by allowing the company to make voluntary changes to its search business, according to a report.

The search giant is said to be readying an announcement about changes to its use of "snippets," bits of text culled from sites such as Yelp and TripAdvisor and displayed in search results, Politico reports, citing unnamed sources. Yelp and others had charged Google with using their content without permission.

Google will also make tweaks that will allow for easier porting of search-ad campaigns from Google to … Read more

Google likely to settle with FTC on patents, reports say

The Federal Trade Commission is nearing a partial settlement with Google in its long-running antitrust investigation, according to reports today from Politico and Reuters.

Both outlets, citing sources familiar with the matter, said Google is prepared to agree not to use its patent war chest to block the sale of products it believes infringe on its intellectual property. The agreement would cover what are known as standard essential patents, which cover technology used in technical standards. (Reuters uses the example of a patent that ensures one brand of wireless phone can call another brand.)

Google has used those patents in … Read more

FTC re-slams apps for kids over privacy concerns

In February 2012, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a report titled Mobile Apps for Kids: Current Privacy Disclosures are Disappointing (PDF) that pointed out that there was "little or no" privacy information available to parents in the Android Google Play and Apple iOS app stores prior to download and scarce data in the apps themselves or on the app vendors websites.

And on Monday, the FTC issued a follow up report, Mobile Apps for Kids Disclosures Still Not Making the Grade that complains that "despite many high-visibility efforts to increase transparency in the mobile marketplace, little … Read more

FTC opposes Motorola injunction request against Apple products

The Federal Trade Commission is lending its support to Apple, arguing that Motorola's attempts to ban the sale of iPads and iPhones allegedly infringing on Motorola patents in a now-dismissed case "risks harming competition, innovation, and consumers."

The U.S. trade agency made the arguments in an amicus brief (PDF) filed today with the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals, explaining that owners of standard-essential patents (SEP) use the threat of injunctions to demand higher royalties and other favorable licensing terms that owners would not likely have been able to negotiate before the patent was declared … Read more

FTC nominee to recuse self from Google cases, report says

Joshua Wright, a Federal Trade Commission nominee who is considered a Google ally, will reportedly vow to recuse himself from any cases involving the search giant for two years if his nomination is approved.

Wright, a law professor at George Mason University and the Obama administration's nominee to fill a Republican place on the FTC to replace retiring J. Thomas Rosch, is expected to make a statement to that effect during his confirmation hearing on the Senate Commerce Committee tomorrow, two sources told political site Politico.

Wright, who has already faced scrutiny for accepting academic research funds -- albeit … Read more

EU, U.S. antitrust officials to meet about Google investigations

The U.S. and European officials leading separate antitrust investigations into Google are expected to meet next week in Europe, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Federal Trade Commission Chairman Jon Liebowitz is expected to meet with European Union competition chief Joaquin Almunia on Monday to discuss a range of cases, including Google's, an EU official told The Journal.

The FTC has investigated a wide range of Google's business practices, focusing mostly on the way Google displays search results, which critics say favor the company's own services over those of its competitors. The U.S. trade agency is … Read more

Google CEO said to meet with FTC over antitrust probe

Google's effort to persuade investigators that it hasn't violated antitrust laws may be reaching its final stages, with CEO Larry Page reportedly meeting with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission officials today in Washington.

Citing a person familiar with the discussions, Bloomberg reports that Page met with officials in the last days of a 19-month investigation into Google's business practices. The company has been having settlement talks with the FTC for "about a week," Google reported, and is resisting pressure to enter into a consent decree affecting Google's products.

The FTC has investigated a … Read more