Apple and Google face antitrust probe

 

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By Reuters

Posted on 5 May 2009 at 08:05

The US Federal Trade Commission has launched an inquiry into whether the ties between the boards of Apple and Google violate antitrust laws.

The FTC has already notified the companies of the inquiry, according to a report in the New York Times.

Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson are directors of both companies. Under federal antitrust law, a person is not allowed to sit on the board of two companies if it decreases competition between them.

Both Apple and Google declined to comment.

The two companies compete directly or indirectly in a number of areas, the most obvious being the fast-growing smartphone market.

Apple's iPhone has been a huge hit for the company and is key to its future growth prospects. Google's Android operating system is used on T-Mobile's G1 smartphone. In addition, the companies are both major rivals of software giant Microsoft.

Separately, the US Justice Department is also making inquiries about a class action settlement that Google reached giving it the right to digitise and sell entire libraries.

Last week, US President Barack Obama appointed Schmidt to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology, a 20-member group that will help formulate policy on areas where understanding of science and technology is important.