United States investigate the practices of Google Android – Hypertext

David McLaughlin According to Bloomberg reports, the US Federal Trade Commission, FTC for its acronym in English, has reached agreement with the Justice Department to begin a new investigation into the practices related to Google Android platform.

The new FTC is investigating Google, it has spent years analyzing their results, and if they constitute grounds for a fine, although recently dismissed many of the charges. Not the EU, which is continuing its investigations after re-launch research Margrethe Vestager the arrival of the Commission and India recently launched a similar investigation.

The new FTC investigation, although in very early stages, it can be considered similar to that undertaken Russia for its control Google on Android, and that the European Union itself launched parallel on the same subject.

The own Department of Justice reflects very well the existing case law on the matter:

To condition capacity of a licensor to license one or more units of intellectual property licensed from other units of property intellectual, goods or services has been declared as illegal links

Adding further.

Although these agreements can link incurring anti-competitive effects such agreements can result in signficiativas efficiencies and pro-competitive benefits.

And here is the crux of the matter. Are illegal, in whole or part, the contracts drawn up with Google Android manufacturers who want to include their services at the terminals of the latter? Different laws may fall into different parts of the question, but four international research. European Union, India, Russia and the United States are now asking this question

Limit manufacturers options that may or may not include in the software they sell to their customers, a practice that limits competition to basic levels -. Samsung, HTC, Xiaomi, Lenovo, Huawei, etc. They could try to sell different versions of Android, or include different pre-installed applications, and all buyers would leave beneficiaries. – Only Google is opposed to this. We recently spoke of the possibility that Microsoft entered as a supplier of complete and alternatives to the services of Google in Android, one or more court decisions or agreements with government agencies may be needed to give the go-ahead to a new era of competition solutions and improvements for users.