Google moves to extend antitrust supervision of Microsoft
405525
Doesn't trust Microsoft to supervise itself Google has escalated its legal tussle with Microsoft over search features built into the Vista operating system. It has asked a federal judge to extend a 2002 antitrust consent decree to ensure Microsoft fulfills its pledge to fully resolve the stand-off.â¦
513800
The federal judge overseeing  Microsoft Corp.'s  antitrust settlement said on Tuesday  she would leave it up to government lawyers to determine how  best to handle Google Inc.'s  concerns about  Microsoft's Vista operating system.
635250
(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.
564421
A group of states on Tuesday asked a  federal judge overseeing Microsoft Corp's  antitrust  oversight agreement to extend sections of it to 2012.
34441
Court oversight of Microsoft Corp.'s market power, which began in 2002 after a landmark antitrust settlement, has been extended two years.
520217
(InfoWorld) - The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) and Microsoft filed formal paperwork Wednesday to extend part of an antitrust judgment against the company for at least two years. The extension of U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly's November 2002 antitrust settlement would give Microsoft more time to complete work on technical documentation for licensees of its communications protocols. The DOJ and Microsoft filed a joint request Wednesday for Kollar-Kotelly to approve the extension, which the DOJ proposed in May. The antitrust order had been scheduled to expire in November 2007. If the judge approves the two-year extension, the DOJ and 17 state plaintiffs in the antitrust case can ask for an additional three-year extension if they still have complaints about Microsoft documentation. Microsoft has said it will not oppose a second extension. Under the settlement, Microsoft is required to license the communication protocols to other IT vendors interested in developing server software that works with Microsoft's Windows operating system. But as of May, hundreds of bugs in the technical documentation remained. A technical committee working with the antitrust plaintiffs identified 575 bugs in the technical documentation as of Feb. 8. By March 16, Microsoft had whittled the bugs identified by the technical committee down to 307, but the number of high-priority bugs grew from 68 to 71 in that period. By May 8, the number of high-priority bugs with a 60-day deadline grew to 79, and the total number of bugs identified by the technical committee was 414.
675701
Google still hopes to influence changes that Microsoft plans to make in Vista's desktop search function, even after the parties involved in Microsoft's 2002 antitrust settlement agreed to alterations to the search system.
305609
The Department of Justice and Microsoft Corp. filed court documents to extend the antitrust judgment against the company for at least two years.
423583
Antitrust authorities will conduct an extended investigation into Google's  proposed acquisition of Web ad supplier DoubleClick Inc., Google said on Tuesday.
327623
Google's $3.1 billion takeover bid for one of the internet's biggest advertising firms will be reviewed by European Union regulators for possible antitrust violations.
127856
By Jessica Mintz  SEATTLE  --  Google Inc. is pressing for an extension to U.S. Justice Department oversight of Microsoft Corp.'s business practices, most of which is set to expire in November, according to a court filing Monday.
146842
The Bush administration has repeatedly defended Microsoft against charges of anticompetitive conduct, including a recent complaint by Google.
116650
Google has made its first official comments on&#160;Microsoft&#39;s proposed acquisition of Yahoo&#160;saying that the deal raises &quot;troubling questions&quot; and that the underlying principles of the Internet stand to be tested by the proposed deal.The statement refers several times to Microsoft&#39;s past regulatory transgressions and indicates that Google could be preparing to fight the deal -- if it is accepted by Yahoo -- by pushing regulators to disallow it.&quot;Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC?,&quot; asked David Drummond, senior vice president of corporate development and chief legal officer at Google in a statement posted on the corporate blog on Sunday.Drummond also asks if an acquisition could allow Microsoft to &quot;extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet?&quot; and to &quot; take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors&#39; email, IM, and web-based services?&quot;A report late Sunday in the online edition of The Wall Street Journal said Google CEO Eric Schmidt called Yahoo CEO Jerry Yang on Friday to offer help to the rival in thwarting the bid. The newspaper, which quoted people familiar with the matter, didn&#39;t provide details of the telephone call.Google has something to fear from a combined Microsoft and Yahoo. The proposed deal, which was announced on Friday and has Microsoft offering $44.6 billion for Yahoo, would combine the number two and three search engines. The two companies are also leaders in the areas of Web mail and instant messaging so a merger would provide stronger competition for Google in those areas.But Google has a massive lead in search and the deal wouldn&#39;t necessarily lead to an improvement in search results, so Microsoft and Yahoo would still face a challenge to surpass Google&#39;s current dominance in this part of the market.The Google statement got a quick response from Microsoft, which said a combination of the two companies would benefit Internet users by establishing a stronger number two competitor to Google.&quot;The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet,&quot; said Microsoft&#39;s top-lawyer, General Counsel Brad Smith, in a statement.&quot;Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet. We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will advance these goals,&quot; Smith said.A merged company would still only account for about 30 percent of the search queries run in the U.S. and about 10 percent in Europe, he said.
242670
U.S. antitrust authorities confirmed on Tuesday they reached an accord with Microsoft Corp. requiring the company to modify its Vista operating system in response to complaints its desktop search function puts Google Inc.  and other potential competitors at a disadvantage.
386576
A federal courtâs oversight of Microsoft has been extended through January to give a judge time to consider a motion to extend that oversight for another five years.
343580
Internet giant Google has urged regulators to scrutinise Microsoft's proposed move to buy Yahoo.
195490
Google Inc., owner of the most popular Internet search engine, said Microsoft Corp. should remain under federal court supervision to ensure it's adhering to a 2001 antitrust consent decree barring it from hurting rivals.