June 3 - 10:50am EDT   The Justice Department is investigating the hiring strategies of some of America's largest high-tech corporations, according to the Washington Post. Companies involved in the probe include the likes of Apple, Google, Yahoo and Genentech, which are accused of making agreements to avoid recruiting from each other, thereby cementing their powerbase. Should allegations prove to be well-founded, the companies could be considered in violation of antitrust laws meant to ensure fair competition. [full story]

May 13 - 12:55pm EDT   The new chairman of the Federal Trade Commission, Jon Leibowitz, is sympathetic to Google despite the government body's investigation into antitrust concerns, a CSPAN interview has uncovered. While Google "certainly has a dominant position in search advertising," argues Leibowitz, "just having a dominant position doesn't in any way violate the law." Problems only arise when a company moves to exclude other competitors, as Microsoft did with Windows and Internet Explorer in the 1990s, according to the FTC head. [full story]

May 8 - 11:10am EDT   No plans exist to resign from Apple's board of directors, in spite of an investigation by the Federal Trade Commission, says Eric Schmidt. The Google CEO spoke to reporters in advance of the company's shareholders meeting, the Associated Press writes, defending himself against suggestions that his participation in Apple may violate antitrust laws. The Clayton Antitrust Act prevents someone from serving on two boards if it may hinder competition. [full story]

May 4 - 11:40pm EDT   The Federal Trade Commission has initiated an investigation surrounding ties between board members at Apple and Google, according to the New York Times. Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson hold positions as simultaneous board members of both companies. Unnamed sources familiar with the matter claim Apple and Google have been notified by the commission that an antitrust inquiry has begun. [full story]

May 4 - 1:30pm EDT   A date has been set for Microsoft to defend itself against European antitrust charges, Reuters reports. Between June 3rd and the 5th, representatives for Microsoft are expected to testify in a closed hearing before the European Commission, elaborating on the outlines of a written response submitted on April 28th. The company was originally ordered to reply by March 12th, but was granted two extensions, first to April 21st and then the 28th. [full story]

April 10 - 1:05pm EDT   The European Commission is considering a measure to force acceptance of VoIP by cellphone carriers, reports say. The EU's telecoms commissioner, Viviane Reding, has called for the EU to undo arbitrary obstacles to "innovative services" on cellphones; a draft of the VoIP measure is thought to already be completed, but still unfinished due to a lack of precise wording. Current rules permit each country to decide what is blocked on the Internet. [full story]

December 17 - 7:30pm EST   Psystar has submitted a response to Apple's recently expanded list of claims. After a successful filing to have the court reject the clone-maker's initial counterclaims of monopolistic business practices, Apple added several DMCA-violation allegations to the suit. The basic defense against the DMCA accusations argues that the technological copyright-protection measures employed in Mac OS X are being used to monopolize the manufacture of Mac OS compatible hardware systems. [full story]

December 10 - 3:15pm EST   Psystar has submitted a modified counterclaim in its legal dispute with Apple, reports say. Filing in response to a tentative dismissal motion, Psystar has dropped any antitrust allegations under the Clayton and Sherman Acts, saying that while it "respectfully disagrees" with the court over definitions of monopoly, it will abide by them for the time being. It is nevertheless continuing a pursuit of Apple for copyright violations, referring to the legal concept of a "misuse doctrine." [full story]

November 18 - 5:15pm EST   A countersuit filed against Apple by Psystar has been tentatively dismissed, documents show. Apple filed suit against Psystar in July, accusing the company of illegally installing Mac OS X on unauthorized hardware; Psystar retaliated with a claim of its own, arguing that Apple violates local and national antitrust regulations. In a 19-page ruling issued today however, judge William Alsup has sided with Apple, granting a dismissal of the countersuit should Psystar not improve the reasoning of its case by December 8th. [full story]

August 14 - 3:40pm EDT   Psystar is "definitely still shipping" its Mac clones, in spite of an ongoing lawsuit from Apple, reads a message from the company. "Recently, our sales team has received several inquiries as to whether or not our systems are still available," the company says. "Psystar is definitely still shipping Open Computing products and we've introduced our restore utilities to enhance the computing experience for our customers at no extra cost." [full story]

August 4 - 4:00pm EDT   One of the lawyers representing Mac clone maker Psystar -- which is defending itself in a copyright and trademark infringement suit filed by Apple -- says the case has been "mischaracterized," and is hinting that antitrust laws may come into play. Colby Springer tells Computerworld that the lawsuit is more complicated than just copyright or trademark issues, and suggests that the defense may try to paint Apple as a monopoly, exerting control over its software to limit competition in the hardware business. [full story]

July 17 - 3:10pm EDT   Competition among multiple iPhone carriers in Italy has not resulted in low prices and happy customers, notebook italia reports. Controversy over service prices has led to a 10,000-signature petition, expressing disappointment with excessive costs. [full story]

July 16 - 12:30pm EDT   The European Commission has ordered music copyright organizations to allow pan-European licensing schemes, says the Associated Press. At present, companies looking to sell music throughout Europe must negotiate agreements with 24 separate collecting societies, scattered throughout the European Union. While this may protect national industries and culture, the Commission has ruled that it also breaks antitrust regulations, giving the societies monopolies in their respective homelands. [full story]

July 3 - 12:45pm EDT   The European Composer and Songwriter Alliance has come out against proposed changes to how online music royalties are collected, writes the Associated Press. The conflict stems from an ongoing investigation by the European Commission, aimed at addressing antitrust concerns relating to the lack of Europe-wide royalty schemes. The Commission notes that currently, national copyright agencies have effective monopolies in their respective regions; there is also a need to negotiate as many as 27 separate royalty schemes for an album, something which may be hampering the spread of European music. [full story]

June 6 - 1:45pm EDT   Intel is officially being investigated by the Federal Trade Commission, writes the Wall Street Journal. The CPU maker has been accused of violating US antitrust laws, specifically for a practice of using exclusive rebates and other tactics designed to discourage builders from turning to other companies. The case appears to be the result of long-term pressure from rival AMD, which has yet to resolve an antitrust lawsuit first filed in 2005. Another government probe began this year in the state of New York, with the help of local politicians. [full story]