antitrust: search

Antitrust Group's Advice On Google-Yahoo Ad Pact: Limit Incentives For Yahoo To Run Google Ads

imageGiven the name, it’s probably not a surprise that the American Antitrust Institute has issued a white paper (PDF) calling the Google-Yahoo ad pact “anticompetitive.” But in a glass half-full take, the group does cite some “pro-competitive” benefits to the deal as well. It also has some advice for keeping the deal intact without skirting antitrust rules.

Judge Lets iPhone Antitrust Trial Move Forward

Last year, we wrote about an antitrust lawsuit filed against Apple for sending an update that disabled, or "bricked," the iPhones of people who had changed the firmware to accept outside programs. While Apple tried to push for a dismissal of the lawsuit, a judge has denied the motion to dismiss and will let the case carry on. While a full-on antitrust finding seems unlikely, there are elements of the case that may get Apple into trouble down the road -- and it all comes back to Apple's Achilles' heel: its desire to control absolutely everything, even after you've bought it. Depending on how this case works out, Apple may discover that it (legally) needs to learn to loosen the strings a bit.

Europe antitrust officials: regulators may need to impose new rules for online-music sales

Europe’s top antitrust official told Apple CEO Steve Jobs, Mick Jagger, and other industry executives that regulators may need to impose new rules for online-music sales.

Justice preparing antitrust claim against Google

Tags: Google Inc., Antitrust, Lawyer, U.S. Department Of Justice, Corporate Law, Security, Business Operations, Richard Koman

iPhone Antitrust and Computer Fraud Claims Upheld

LawWatcher writes "On October 1, 2008, a federal judge in California upheld a class action claiming that Apple and AT&T Mobility's five-year exclusive voice and data service provider agreement for the iPhone violates the anti-monopoly provisions of the antitrust laws. The court also ruled that Apple may have violated federal and California criminal computer fraud and abuse statutes by releasing version 1.1.1 of its iPhone operating software when Apple knew that doing so would damage or destroy some iPhones that had been 'unlocked' to enable use of a carrier other than AT&T."

Report: DOJ hires antitrust expert in Google/Yahoo probe

The DOJ may be preparing an antitrust lawsuit to block the deal between Yahoo and Google, which would give them control over 80 percent of search ads in the U.S.

Best Buy gets antitrust approval to buy Napster

WASHINGTON - Retailer Best Buy has been given antitrust approval to buy digital music service Napster, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday.

Best Buy gets antitrust approval to buy Napster

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retailer Best Buy has been given antitrust approval to buy digital music service Napster, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday.

Best Buy gets antitrust approval to buy Napster

WASHINGTON, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Retailer Best Buy has been given antitrust approval to buy digital music service Napster, the Federal Trade Commission said on Wednesday.

Justice Department hires antitrust counsel to review Google-Yahoo deal

WASHINGTON (AP) - In a possible blow to Yahoo Inc.'s hopes for an advertising partnership with Google Inc., the Justice Department has hired an antitrust litigator to review evidence for what could become a legal challenge to the deal.

USDOJ Sniffing Google Antitrust Suit, Hires Ex-Disney Lawyer

Van Cutter Romney was one of several to write with the story that "The Justice department has secretly hired former Walt Disney lawyer Sanford Litvack for a possible antitrust suit against Google. As reported earlier, the Justice Department is investigating the deal between Google and Yahoo which accounts for 80% of online search advertising. The Wall Street Journal writes today that Justice Department lawyers have been deposing witnesses and issuing document subpoenas for weeks — but that doesn't necessarily mean a case will be brought."

U.S. DOJ mulls antitrust lawsuit against Google

"The Justice Department has quietly hired one of the nation's best-known litigators, former Walt Disney Co. vice chairman Sanford Litvack, for a possible antitrust challenge to Google Inc.'s growing power in advertising," John R. Wilke reports for The Wall Street Journal.

Nvidia Settles GPU Price Fixing Antitrust Case

arcticstoat writes to report that Nvidia has offered up a settlement for the GPU price fixing case. As a part of the settlement Nvidia would be required to pay $850,000 into a fund projected to hit $1.7 million (supposedly AMD/ATI would make up the other half). The antitrust case indicated that Nvidia and ATI worked together in order to 'fix, raise, maintain, and stabilize prices of GPUs sold in the US'"

Time Warner Cable Box Rental Inspired Antitrust Lawsuit

EmagGeek writes "Matthey Meeds, a real-estate agent, was so irritated about having to pay the monthly rental fee that on Tuesday he filed an antitrust suit against Time Warner Cable and its 84 percent owner, Time Warner Inc. The suit alleges that, by linking the provision of premium cable services to rental of the cable box, the companies have established illegal tying arrangements. 'Time Warner's improper tying and bundling harms competition,' Meeds' lawsuit states. 'Since the class can only rent the cable box directly from Time Warner, manufacturers of cable boxes are foreclosed from renting and/or selling cable boxes directly to members of the class at a lower cost.' I pay Comcast over $25/mo for my two DVRs. I'd love to just be able to buy them or build my own.

Google agrees to delay Yahoo ad deal to give antitrust regulators more time

WASHINGTON - Google Inc. agreed to delay the start of an advertising partnership with rival Yahoo Inc., giving U.S. antitrust regulators more time to review the deal.

Does Yahoo Foresee a Bad End to its Google Adventure?

Canadian antitrust regulators have now gone the same path as the US Justice Department and reached out and hired an outside litigator, David Kent, a Toronto antitrust expert, to look into the Google-Yahoo deal.

If Everyone's Using Your Pirated Software, Are You Still A Monopolist?

Apparently there's a new antitrust law in China that has local software companies scrambling to file suit against Microsoft for violating the law. However, Business Week has a rather pertinent question: if the vast majority of the Microsoft software in use in China is of the "pirated" variety, can Microsoft actually be held responsible for antitrust violations? After all, it's not directly responsible for that "monopoly" in the first place.

Microsoft Documentation Declared Unfit For US Consumption

anomalous cohort writes "Washington DC judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly announced during the ongoing Microsoft antitrust hearings that their documentation is unfit for US Consumption. This is relevant in an antitrust hearing as poor documentation on how to inter-operate with Microsoft's products is seen as an unfair barrier to entry for companies who compete with Microsoft. Others see this as yet another example of their crumbling hegemony or indolence as their empire burns."

Key senator finds Google-Yahoo deal deserves scrutiny, stops short of blocking it

Even if the Department of Justice says Google's (NSDQ: GOOG) search ad pact with Yahoo (NSDQ: YHOO) clears its antitrust hurdles, Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin), chair of the antitrust subcommittee, says that it will still require close monitoring to ensure it doesn't threaten the online ad industry, Reuters reported. By not specifically saying that the deal should be prevented from going forward, Kohl is either giving his tacit assent to the deal or at least resigning himself to its ultimate approval by the DOJ.

Psystar Will Countersue Apple

An anonymous reader sends us to CNet for news that Apple clone maker Pystar plans to countersue Apple. We discussed Apple's suit last month. "Mac clone maker Psystar plans to file its answer to Apple's copyright infringement lawsuit Tuesday as well as a countersuit of its own, alleging that Apple engages in anticompetitive business practices. Miami-based Psystar... will sue Apple under two federal laws designed to discourage monopolies and cartels, the Sherman Antitrust Act and the Clayton Antitrust Act, saying Apple's tying of the Mac OS to Apple-labeled hardware is 'an anticompetitive restraint of trade,' according to [an] attorney... Psystar is requesting that the court find Apple's EULA void, and is asking for unspecified damages."

Google on Antitrust: Trust Us

trust-me.jpgIn case you were wondering what Google's stance is on whether or not its deal with Yahoo is bad for competition, it's official! It's all good.

Best Buy gets antitrust approval to buy Napster

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Justice Department hires antitrust counsel to review Google - Yahoo deal

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U.S. Hires Antitrust Investigator for Google-Yahoo!

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Why Google needs better antitrust advice

This is a big week for Google. It's new mobile phone software called Android is debuting, and there will be much debate about whether this much hyped project is going to get any traction. But that discussion may get drowned out by another. It seems as if everywhere you turn in the past two weeks, someone is wringing their hands about Google, the monopolist.

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