Google told media outlets on Thursday that the Federal Trade Commission is eying CEO Eric Schmidt’s dual membership on the board of Directors for Google and Apple as a potential violation of the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914. Though initially not rivals, the two companies are poised to become competitors once more handsets running Google’s Android platform become available to challenge Apple’s iPhone.
Though the search-engine giant is coming under increased government scrutiny in several areas, this is only natural given the company’s explosive growth, said Adam Kovacevich, senior manager of global communications and public affairs at Google.
“We believe that Google promotes competition and openness online, but we haven’t always done a good job telling our story,” Kovacevich said. “That’s why we have recently been meeting with policy-makers, think-tank representatives, academics, journalists, ad agencies, and trade associations — in the U.S. and Europe.”
Navigating the Mind Field
Schmidt said Google has a heightened awareness that every move it makes is going to be intensely scrutinized. For this reason, Google recently took steps to slow the process of reaching final agreement on its book-search settlement after three library associations raised concerns that the deal could raise costs and violate readers’ right to privacy.
“We are more careful about when and how we do things that will raise concerns from any party, but it hasn’t prevented us from doing anything,” the San Francisco Chronicle quoted Schmidt as saying.
However, Schmidt draws the line when people begin comparing Google to Microsoft in the years leading up to the software giant’s antitrust settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice.
“They obviously don’t remember the old Microsoft,” said Schmidt, the Chronicle reported. “Go back to 1997 and look at the business tactics that Microsoft used.”
The irony is that Microsoft intends to cite Google as an antitrust example…