The Federal Trade Commission is looking at interlocking directors at Apple and Google, according to the New York Times. Arthur D. Levinson and Eric E. Schmidt serve on both boards. If the Federal Trade Commission finds that Apple and Google compete with each other, they will have to resign from at least one of those boards. Traditionally, Republican administrations are fairly lenient in the application of the antitrust law, especially as it applies to issues of competition, so it may be evidence of a stepped-up focus from the Obama administration that may be a harbinger of additional investigations and an expanded notion of which companies compete with each other.
Thanks to Jeanne Patterson for suggesting this post.
Nell Minow — Editor
