US DOJ takes more aggressive approach to antitrust

The U.S. Department of Justice has repealed a policy seen as being lax on antitrust violations, signaling a more aggressive approach toward antitrust enforcement under the administration of U.S. President Barack Obama.

The DOJ's Antitrust Division has withdrawn a September report that "raised too many hurdles to government antitrust enforcement and favored extreme caution" toward antitrust enforcement action, the DOJ said. The change in policy could mean that the DOJ looks harder at the actions of technology vendors such as Google, Oracle and IBM, as detractors have raised antitrust concerns about all three in recent months.

Christine Varney, assistant attorney general in charge of the Antitrust Division, said her comments, made during a speech Monday, weren't directed at any one company. She did say, however, that the DOJ should take close looks at the high-tech and Internet industries and new ways of measuring antitrust activity there. Varney also said the DOJ would look hard at mergers and their impact on competition.

"Withdrawing the ... report is a shift in philosophy and the clearest way to let everyone know that the Antitrust Division will be aggressively pursuing cases where monopolists try to use their dominance in the marketplace to stifle competition and harm consumers," Varney said during a speech. "The division will return to tried-and-true case law and Supreme Court precedent in enforcing the antitrust laws."

Spokesmen with Google and Intel declined to comment on the change in policy. The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has an open antitrust investigation of Intel and the DOJ's change in policy wouldn't affect that.

In recent months, several detractors have raised concerns that Google has a near monopoly in online search advertising. In late 2008, the DOJ's concerns over a proposed advertising partnership between Google and Yahoo killed the deal.

Google recently has been meeting with lawmakers, journalists and others in an effort to explain its positions on business competition. Google's main message has been that competition with the search giant is "one click away."

"As Google has grown, the company has naturally faced more scrutiny about our business principles and practices," Adam Kovacevich, senior manager for Google's global communications and public affairs, wrote on the Google public policy blog Friday. "We believe that Google promotes competition and openness online, but we haven't always done a good job telling our story."

Sign up for ITworld's Daily newsletter
Follow ITworld on Twitter @IT_world

• Email
• Print
• Share
  • Slashdot
  • Digg
  • Stumble
  • Reddit
  • Newsvine