Brian Caulfield, 05.05.09, 06:30 PM EDT The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is taking a look at Appleand Google's inter-locking boards of directors, The New York Times reported Monday. The two companies share a pair of directors: Google ( GOOG -news - people ) Chief Executive Eric Schmidt and formerGenentech ( DNA - news - people ) Chief Executive Arthur Levinson. The problem: U.S. laws forbid competitors from collaborating too closely. Until recently, that posed little problem. Apple ( AAPL - news -people ) made computer hardware and software, and Google is an online search service. Eric Schmidt had publicly said he recuses himself from discussions involving Apple iPhone, which competes with smart phones that use Google's Android smart-phone operating system. Apple, however, is pushing deeper into online software and services with its MobileMe synchronization service, Safari Web browser and iTunes digital media store. Google, meanwhile, offers a Web browser too, in addition to Web-based productivity software that competes with Apple's iWork software suite as well as Microsoft Office. It would be easy to imagine the companies' increasingly overlapping businesses leading to awkward moments. For example, Techcruch publisher Michael Arrington wrote Tuesday that a source told him Apple is in talks to acquire Twitter just a month after rumors swirled about Google snapping up the online service. Other great sources of info. http://globalitandbusinessnews.blogspot.com/ http://globalbusinessnews.posterous.com/ http://kxlsyd.posterous.com/ http://twitterpulsepoll.posterous.com/ @globalnewsfeed - https://twitter.com/globalnewsfeed @pulsepoll -https://twitter.com/pulsepoll @kxlsyd - https://twitter.com/kxlsydThe two companies share a pair of directors, even as their businesses increasingly overlap.
May 6, 2009
U.S. Investigating Apple, Google Ties
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment