Source: Xinhua

05-07-2009 10:31

Special Report:   Tech Max

BEIJING, May 6 (Xinhaunet) -- The U.S. Federal Trade Commission is investigation the close ties between Google and Apple to see if the relationship violated antitrust laws.

According to a report Monday, the two companies have been informed that the FTC would like to investigate whether the fact that Apple and Google have two members of their boards of directors in common--Google CEO Eric Schmidt and former Genentech CEO Art Levinson--amounts to a violation of antitrust law.

Schmidt has been on Apple's board since August 2006, while Levinson has served on the board since 2000.

Under federal antitrust law, a person is not allowed to sit on the board of two companies if it decreases competition between them.

Google and Apple compete directly or indirectly in a number of areas, the most obvious being the fast-growing smartphone market.

Apple's iPhone has been a huge hit for the company and is key to its future growth prospects. Google's Android operating system is used on T-Mobile's G1 smartphone.




-- Click for more news in Tech Max >>

 

Editor:Yang Jie