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Ties between Apple and Google spark antitrust issue

Federal Trade Commission launches inquiry

Ties between Apple and Google spark antitrust issue
This story immediately puts us in mind of the whole multi-touch patent row that threatened to kick off a short while ago, when Apple reportedly ‘asked’ Google not to include the feature in the Android platform. That Apple had an executive on Google’s board undoubtedly helped seal that agreement.

Now, according to the New York Times, the US Federal Trade Commission is investigating these close ties between Apple and Google to determine whether the two computer giants are violating antitrust laws.

It’s unclear at this point as to what aspects of the two companies have attracted the FTC’s interest, though it’s presumably to do with both companies setting up seemingly rival smartphones, application stores and games catalogues that now dominate the market.

Google CEO Eric Schmidt holds positions as a director on the board of both companies, as does Arthur Levinson, so this investigation is likely to have an impact on these executive jobs, even if it doesn’t go any further.

Yes. Spanner's his real name. And, yes, he's heard that joke before.