doj

Since late March of this year, AT&T's proposed $39 billion takeover of T-Mobile has dominated the U.S. wireless industry. Customers, outside interest groups, and government officials were quick to choose sides, but once AT&T filed its initial papers with the Federal Communications Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice in April, the deal was put in the hands of federal regulators. And today, the Feds answered back when the Justice Department filed a lawsuit (PDF) in federal court to block the merger.

Though the Justice Department's decision may sound like a death … Read more

Despite last month's $4.5 billion sale of Nortel's patent portfolio wrapping up this week, government scrutiny over what its buyers intend to do with the patents continues, a new report says.

The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Department of Justice is "intensifying" an investigation of the portfolio buyers to see whether they plan on launching litigation against competitors, specifically ones using Google's Android.

That consortium of technology companies, comprising Apple, EMC, Ericsson, Microsoft, Research In Motion, and Sony, beat out Google, Intel, and others for ownership of the portfolio containing some … Read more

Antitrust authorities at the U.S. Justice Department have submitted a second request for information on Google's plan to acquire Internet advertising company Admeld, the companies said yesterday.

The move means a new round of scrutiny, and thus more waiting, for the Admeld acquisition, reported to be for about $400 million when it was announced in June.

Google's biggest ad business is for search ads that appear next to search results, but it's been trying to expand in the domain of more traditional display ads--the graphics such as banner ads that often tout big brand names. Admeld … Read more

Sony has come under investigation as part of a wider probe by the U.S. Department of Justice into the competitive practices of the rechargeable-battery industry, the company revealed in a financial filing today.

Sony Electronics was first contacted in May with a subpoena from the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. A company spokesman told Bloomberg Sony is cooperating with the probe.

"Sony understands that the DOJ is investigating competition in the secondary batteries market. Based on the stage of the proceeding, it is not possible to estimate the amount of loss or range of possible loss, if any, … Read more

The Justice Department's antitrust authorities have approved Google's $900 million bid for 6,000 Nortel patents and patent applications, the Wall Street Journal reported today.

The conclusion, attributed to unnamed sources, means that the purchase of the intellectual property from the bankrupt telecommunications company wouldn't be anticompetitive, and it significantly advances Google's bid.

Microsoft, a top Google competitor, has raised concerns about Google's bid for the Nortel patents about the purchase. AT&T, Nokia, Hewlett-Packard, and Verizon also have filed objections, the Journal said.

Patents are a hot commodity these days with an explosion … Read more

Google is close to settling a criminal investigation charging the company with turning a huge profit from displaying illegal ads for online pharmacies, The Wall Street Journal reported today.

Quoting sources familiar with the matter, the Journal said the federal investigation has focused on whether Google knowingly accepted illegal ads from online pharmacies based in Canada and elsewhere. The search giant made hundreds of millions of dollars from such transactions, the report says.

As we reported earlier this week, Google took a surprise $500 million charge in its first quarter to cover potential charges related to resolving an investigation by … Read more

The U.S. Justice Department is asking for more information as it takes a deep dive into its investigation of AT&T's proposed $39 billion purchase of T-Mobile USA, Bloomberg reported today.

According to two unnamed sources familiar with the situation, Bloomberg said that the Justice Department's antitrust division also sent "civil investigative demands," which are like subpoenas, to competitors of the two companies. The Justice Department is seeking more information on how the deal will affect other wireless businesses, Bloomberg reported.

Neither AT&T nor T-Mobile would comment on the story. And the … Read more

By seizing servers and domain names and getting permission to remotely turn off malware on compromised PCs, U.S. officials have disabled a botnet that steals data from infected computers.

The legal actions are part of the "most complete and comprehensive enforcement action ever taken by U.S. authorities to disable an international botnet," according to a statement from the Department of Justice. A botnet is a group of computers that have been compromised and are being remotely controlled by attackers, typically to send spam or attack other computers.

It's the first time law enforcement in the … Read more