Three U.S. Federal Trade Commission members said on Wednesday they regretted the inadvertent release of part of an agency report about its probe of Google as the company continues to face antitrust scrutiny from European authorities.
The document, which was at the centre of a report by The Wall Street Journal, indicated that key staff members at the FTC were in favour of suing Google for allegedly breaking antitrust law. The agency settled with the search and advertising company in early 2013, with all five commissioners ultimately deciding not to sue.
In a statement, three of the commissioners — Chairwoman Edith Ramirez, Julie Brill and Maureen Ohlhausen — defended the final outcome.
“Contrary to recent press reports, the commission’s decision on the search allegations was in accord with the recommendations of the FTC’s Bureau of Competition, Bureau of Economics, and Office of General Counsel,” the commissioners said. The commissioners considered that Google has abided by their commitments, outlined in a letter by then Chairman of Google,Jon Leibovitz.
The agency said that it regretted the release of the documents, which were confidential and should not have been included in a response to a Freedom of Information Act request.
Full Content: NBC News
Want more news? Subscribe to CPI’s free daily newsletter for more headlines and updates on antitrust developments around the world.
Featured News
Public Interest Groups Push for Rehearing on FCC Net Neutrality Case
Feb 18, 2025 by
CPI
Australian Regulator Backs Virgin Australia-Qatar Airways Alliance
Feb 18, 2025 by
CPI
EU Scales Back AI Regulations to Compete with US in Global Tech Race
Feb 18, 2025 by
CPI
Democratic Lawmakers Raise Concerns Over Musk’s Task Force and Taxpayer Data Security
Feb 18, 2025 by
CPI
UK’s CMA Provisionally Approves Poultry Feed Merger
Feb 18, 2025 by
CPI
Antitrust Mix by CPI
Antitrust Chronicle® – International Criminal Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
CPI
The Antitrust Division’s Recent Work to Combat International Cartels
Jan 23, 2025 by
Emma Burnham & Benjamin Christenson
Information Sharing: The New Frontier of U.S. Antitrust Enforcement
Jan 23, 2025 by
Brian P. Quinn, Casey Kovarik & Michael Tubach
The Key Role of Guidelines on Exchanges of Information Among Competitors and the Divergent Transatlantic Paths
Jan 23, 2025 by
Rosa Abrantes-Metz & Albert Metz
Leniency, Whistleblowers, and Compliance
Jan 23, 2025 by
Richard Powers, Tara O’Malley & Cory Gordon