Reports: Google weighs Microsoft antitrust fight
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(InfoWorld) - Google may be seeking a reopening of state and federal government antitrust action against Microsoft, but a U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) official has recommended against it, newspaper reports indicated Sunday. Google alleged that Microsoft's new Windows Vista operating system puts other search software companies at a disadvantage, making it difficult for users to employ non-Microsoft desktop-search software, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing lawyers familiar with the case. Microsoft's own desktop indexing system is almost impossible to turn off, Google claimed in a white paper sent to both the DOJ and states' attorneys general, thereby affecting a computer's performance when running non-Microsoft search index, the report said. Microsoft denied the accusations, saying that its own search indexing could be turned off, although with some difficulty, and that its program did not interfere with the operation of other search indexing software and therefore did not influence performance, according to the report. Despite Google's efforts to draw its rival into a protracted legal fight, the company's antitrust cries are falling on deaf ears, especially at the DOJ, which fought Microsoft over monopoly accusations in the late 1990s until a settlement in 2002, according to The New York Times, which also cited lawyers close to the case. Thomas O. Barnett, now the DOJ's top-ranking antitrust official, recommended in May that the DOJ and state attorneys general reject Google's complaint, the report said. Formerly employed by a law firm that represented Microsoft during the DOJ antitrust suit, Barnett did not work on the case before joining the DOJ, and recused himself from involvement in the DOJ's ongoing monitoring of Microsoft that is part of the 2002 settlement, the report said. However, some state prosecutors may take up the case with or without the DOJ, which is slated to be heard in Federal District Court in Washington later this month, it said.
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Google could help keep Yahoo away from Microsoft if it took over selling search ads for Yahoo in return for a very large check. That money could help finance all sorts of possible deals.
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By Stephen Foley  Google has chalked up a victory over Microsoft in a legal battle over its rival's operating system, Windows Vista.
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Google Inc. faces an uphill battle in its effort to stir competition concerns over Microsoft Corp.'s $42 billion bid for Yahoo Inc., analysts said Monday.
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Internet giant Google said Sunday it finds "troubling" Microsoft's multi-billion-dollar bid to acquire rival Yahoo and urged US and international regulators to strenuously vet the proposed deal.
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If the massive deal does go through, Google will at last face a major threat to fend off. Technical integration between Microsoft and Yahoo could be a nightmare, according to some analysts. Yet customers might stand to gain.
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InfoWorld - Google&#39;s claims that&#160;Microsoft&#39;s built-in Vista desktop indexing and search tool violates its antitrust agreement&#160;could be difficult to prove even if the software does slow down the performance of Google&#39;s competitive Google Desktop offering.
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A federal judge heard arguments Monday in a trademark dispute that could threaten millions in advertising revenue for search engine Google Inc.
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Google said Friday that it plans to subpoena its search rivals Microsoft and Yahoo in order to obtain information that will help the company defend its book scanning project from a legal attack. Google was sued by both the Association of American Publishers and the Authors Guild.
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Microsoft fired back at Google's attempts to have antitrust regulators take a second look at Vista's search capabilities, calling the search giant's claims "baseless."
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Yahoo Inc insiders are mulling ties to rival Google Inc as a possible defense to rebuff Microsoft Corp's takeover bid, a person familiar with Yahoo management's thinking said on Sunday.
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Early this morning, The New York Times reported that the US Federal Trade Commission would be expanding its otherwise normal investigation into the prospective merger deal between contextual advertising giant Google and display advertising giant DoubleClick, by issuing Google a "second request" for more information late last week.  Analysts are saying the FTC may be acting on the behest of none other than Microsoft.
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(InfoWorld) - Microsoft will make changes to its desktop search program following a complaint to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) by Google. Google suggested in a white paper submitted to the DOJ earlier this year that Microsoft's Windows Vista operating system puts other search software companies at a disadvantage, making it difficult for users to utilize non-Microsoft desktop-search software. Microsoft has reached an agreement with the DOJ to make it easier for end users to employ desktop search programs made by rival software developers, The Wall Street Journal reported. Microsoft will also provide more documentation and information to developers about how to make those search programs run smoothly, it said. The changes will be included in Microsoft's first Vista update, called Service Pack 1, slated to be released later this year, the report said. California Attorney General Jerry Brown said Microsoft had agreed to make the "significant changes" in Vista operating system to stay in compliance with a U.S. court agreement in Microsoft's antitrust case. Brown's office intervened in the wake of reports that Microsoft's new operating system included a desktop search function called "Instant Search" that violated terms of its agreement to open its products to more competition. Google Inc. which offers the most popular search engine on the Internet, said "Instant Search" is a "Microsoft middleware product," which is subject to the federal agreement in the antitrust case. The State of California contended that Vistaâs desktop search feature is a functionality that did not exist in prior Windows operating systems and is therefore covered under the agreement. Brown said Microsoft will provide users and computer manufacturers, such as Hewlett-Packard and Dell with greater flexibility to choose and access competing desktop search products. The agreement was included in a joint status report that was filed Wednesday with federal District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly in Washington, D.C., who presided over the 2002 agreement in the case. "This agreement - while not perfect - is a positive step towards greater competition in the software industry," said Brown. "It will enhance the ability of consumers to select the desktop search tool of their choice." Microsoft was found to be operating an illegal monopoly in software by another U.S. District Judge in Washington. Microsoft entered into a settlement agreement with the federal government and attorneys general for several U.S. states to abide by certain rules to allow more competition. Microsoft had originally denied that its own desktop search interfered with non-Microsoft indexing software, noting that its search indexing could be turned off, although with some difficulty. The Redmond company also seemed to have the DOJ, its former antitrust foe, on its side: Thomas O. Barnett, now the DOJ's top-ranking antitrust official, recommended in May that the DOJ and state attorneys general reject Google's complaint, according to a New York Times report earlier this month.
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With Microsoft bidding nearly $45 billion to buy Yahoo, Google has begun to lay the groundwork to try to delay, and possibly derail, any deal.
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The New York Times revealed Saturday that Google was the unidentified party mentioned in a US Dept. of Justice status report last March as having lodged a "middleware-related complaint" against Microsoft.  In addition, a memo by a key antitrust enforcement official that the Times also turned up, rejecting Google's arguments and advising states' prosecutors to reject them as well.
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SEATTLE -- Microsoft has fended off Google antitrust complaints by agreeing to make it easier for computer users to choose competitors' programs, an increasingly common response from a company long accused of trying to stifle competition.
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General Electric Co.  and Microsoft Corp.  discussed joining forces for a competing bid for Dow Jones & Co.  in recent weeks, but the idea was abandoned, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday.