How Many Steps Was That, Then? Uncle Sam's Lawyers, Watchdog Race To Probe Google's Fitbit Gobble
Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:
The FTC [(US Federal Trade Commission)] is keen to have a piece of Google, in part because it has just set up a new technology task force specifically to monitor tech giants for anti-competitive behavior. But the agency also wants to rebuild its reputation following an embarrassing climbdown in 2012, when its staff found that Google was rigging the search market, but the agency's commissioners cut a deal and tried to hide the staff report (it is still hiding part of it.)
But the DoJ [(Department of Justice)] reportedly called dibs on Fitbit because it has an ongoing investigation into Google. Who knows what else went on in the background but, while the DoJ is currently the president's favorite lapdog and Rottweiler, the FTC remains the toothless watchdog.
[...] Not that any of that means that Google won't get approval to buy Fitbit, even though several organizations have warned that the search giant most likely wants to company in order to hoover up millions of people's health data and tie it into its vast advertiser-friendly database.
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