antitrust

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Google, Yahoo in Talks to Avoid Antitrust Case

Online ad deal may be capped to avoid further scrutiny

(Newser) - Google and Yahoo are working to settle any antitrust issues arising from their proposed joint online ad venture, the Wall Street Journal reports. Google has offered a cap on the volume of ads it sells Yahoo, which may be willing to continue selling search ads to avoid lengthy legal battles...

Feds Give Green Light to Wells Fargo-Wachovia

Citigroup plans to sue over breach of contract, but will not interfere

(Newser) - Federal antitrust regulators cleared Wells Fargo's $11.7 billion acquisition of Wachovia Corp. today, capping a weeklong battle for the Charlotte, NC-based bank. The rapid approval comes a day after Citigroup walked away from its acquisition effort. Citigroup plans to seek $60 billion in damages for breach of contract but...

US Hires Top Lawyer to Mull Google-Yahoo Antitrust Case

Step in possible antitrust case against Internet giants

(Newser) - The Justice Department has hired a top lawyer to review a possible antitrust case against the Google-Yahoo advertising deal, which would give the companies control of 80% of web search ads, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sanford Litvack, a former Disney vice-chairman, was Jimmy Carter’s antitrust chief. While officials...

Clone-Maker Files Countersuit Against Apple

Psystar alleges trust violations, tries to open market for OS X

(Newser) - Mac clone-maker Psystar countersued Apple this week and charged it with violating antitrust law, PC Magazine reports. The battle centers on a provision in Apple’s end user agreement that prohibits non-Mac hardware from running its operating system. Psystar admits to selling computers with such hardware, and says they can...

Retailers Struggle With Ruling That OK'd Price-Fixing

Enabling manufacturers to set minimum prices leads to collusion, some say

(Newser) - A Supreme Court ruling that last year allowed manufacturers to set minimum sale prices for their goods is giving retailers fits, the Wall Street Journal reports. Manufacturers, barred from the practice for nearly a century, are being allowed to punish retailers who discount their products by cutting off supplies. Some...

Sparks Fly as Yahoo, Microsoft Take to Hill

Yang admitted deal with Google would hurt competition: Microsoft

(Newser) - Congressional hearings on Yahoo's proposed ad deal with Google got a little heated yesterday, with a Microsoft lawyer testifying that Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang recently admitted, in a private meeting, that the pact would reduce competition, the Los Angeles Times reports. Yahoo’s general counsel said he recalled no such...

It's Google's Turn on the Hot Seat
It's Google's Turn on
the Hot Seat
Opinion

It's Google's Turn on the Hot Seat

Microsoft off the hook as Congress goes after its archrival

(Newser) - You have to forgive Microsoft if it indulges in some schadenfreude today, writes Brier Dudley of the Seattle Times. Archrival Google is facing a peril that’s all too familiar in Redmond. Steve Ballmer can sit back tomorrow as Google’s top execs go before the Senate subcommittee on antitrust,...

Feds Probing Google-Yahoo Deal

Formal investigation signals that Justice may have antitrust concerns

(Newser) - Google’s agreement to provide Yahoo with advertising for some of its searches in the US and Canada has prompted the Justice Department to launch a formal antitrust investigation into the deal, the Washington Post reports. "They don't do it without having identified significant issues," one lawyer said...

Intel Suit Exposes 'Squishy' Antitrust Laws
Intel Suit Exposes
'Squishy' Antitrust Laws
ANALYSIS

Intel Suit Exposes 'Squishy' Antitrust Laws

Predatory behavior or competition?

(Newser) - Washington's probe into Intel exposed just how "squishy" antitrust issues can be, Joe Nocera writes in the New York Times. What rival chipmaker AMD has called "predatory behavior" can also be seen as "good old-fashioned competition. What makes antitrust so maddening is that the answer depends as...

FCC Staff Blesses Satellite Radio Merger

Sirius-XM deal could go to commission within 3 weeks

(Newser) - After languishing nearly a year and a half in regulatory limbo, the merger between XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio may finally get the green light to proceed. The FCC staff has signed off on the $5 billion deal, reports the Wall Street Journal, with some conditions devised by...

Yahoo and Google: It's All Up to Yang
Yahoo and Google: It's All Up to Yang
analysis

Yahoo and Google: It's All Up to Yang

CEO must pave way for struggling company as investors look on

(Newser) - As Yahoo and Google prepare for a new search-ad deal, it’s all up to CEO Jerry Yang, writes Charles Cooper for CNET. Will Yang be the next Steve Jobs, pulling a struggling company back to the spotlight—or will he fade like his Yahoo predecessors? The afreement "may...

FTC Opens Antitrust Investigation of Intel

Smaller rival AMD has long accused it of unfair practices

(Newser) - The FTC has opened a formal investigation of Intel over allegations of monopolistic business practices, the Wall Street Journal reports. The world's biggest semiconductor company, which denies any wrongdoing, received a subpoena this week. Intel also learned that it faces a $25.4 million antitrust fine from South Korea, even...

Soaring Fertilizer Prices Another Cog in Food Crisis

Costs up 65% percent, drawing calls for inquiries by US, UN

(Newser) - Farmers worldwide are fuming over soaring fertilizer prices, the Wall Street Journal reports. Costs are 65% higher in the US than a year ago, making it difficult for farmers to boost production in response to an international food crisis. Meanwhile, fertilizer companies have reaped big profits from a cartel-based system...

Google Readies Defense of Yahoo Ad Deal

Efficiencies outweigh anti-competition issues, giant says; critics not so sure

(Newser) - An advertising deal between Google and Yahoo is certain to stir the Justice Department’s antitrust division into action, no matter what the two do to address concerns, experts anticipating a partnership between the two Internet leaders tell the New York Times. Google says a deal would simply be a...

Chinese Law Muddles Microsoft Bid for Yahoo

New anti-trust regs could require review

(Newser) - A new anti-monopoly law in China could interfere with Microsoft’s bid for Yahoo, the New York Times reports. Because Yahoo owns 40% of Alibaba, China’s biggest e-commerce business, Beijing could demand approval of the deal along with the US and the EU. “I don’t think anyone...

Intel Testifies in EU Antitrust Hearings

CEO jets in to defend practices in Brussells

(Newser) - Intel officials testified before an EU antitrust commission yesterday in Brussels; the chipmaker is suspected of unfairly dominating the European market. Competitor Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and consumer groups are testifying today, reports the Wall Street Journal. The commission will consider whether rebates Intel offered to retailers that didn’t...

Apple's iPhone Rules Restrict Competition

Banning of VoIP, browser bundling echoes antitrust cases

(Newser) - Apple’s iPhone software development kit is facing criticism from net neutrality and antitrust critics, Computerworld reports. Apple has indicated that voice-over-IP programs like Skype will not be allowed on the iPhone’s AT&T network, as its a direct competitor for AT&T’s voice service. Comcast, Computerworld points...

Microsoft Tries to Appease EU With Blueprints

But skeptical regulators say it's deja vu from US software giant

(Newser) - Microsoft plans to share the secrets of its most popular products, the company announced today, in an effort to satisfy EU regulators who want the software giant to improve its interoperability. The European Commission did cautiously applaud the move, but noted that Microsoft has already made at least four similar...

Microsoft Under More EU Fire
Microsoft Under More EU Fire

Microsoft Under More EU Fire

Company's push for Office approval in spotlight

(Newser) - Shortly after the EU announced two new antitrust probes focusing on Microsoft, investigators are scrutinizing the company again. In question this time is whether Microsoft broke antitrust laws during a push last year to get its Office software file format approved as an international standard, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Labels Want to Beat iTunes but Feds Say, Slow Down

Justice Department begins inquiry into 'Total Music' plan

(Newser) - The latest music industry initiative to beat iTunes, Universal’s Total Music plan, is facing a Justice Department inquiry before it’s even out of the concept stage. Universal and Sony have gotten DOJ letters of inquiry, reports the Wall Street Journal. It’s uncertain what aspect of Total Music...

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