Sunday, June 2, 2019
Report: Justice Department Prepares to Launch Antitrust Investigation into Google
The Wall Street Journal reports that the U.S. Justice Department is preparing to begin an antitrust investigation into Google that could see the tech giant come under a new wave of scrutiny from regulators. According to people familiar with the matter, the antitrust division of the Justice Department has been gathering information and preparing for the investigation for weeks.
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which shares antitrust authority with the Justice Department, has previously conducted antitrust investigations into Google on a broader scale but closed the investigation in 2013 with no action taken. Google did, however, make some voluntary changes to some of its business practices as a result of the investigation.
The FTC and Justice Department have been discussing which group will oversee further antitrust investigations of Google, with the FTC agreeing to give the Justice Department full jurisdiction over Google. Now that an understanding has been reached between the two government bodies, the Justice Department is preparing to conduct an in-depth investigation into Google. It has yet to be revealed if the Justice Department has contacted Google in relation to the investigation.
Those familiar with the matter stated that the Justice Department has been in contact with third-party groups that have been critical of Google in the past. The Wall Street Journal reached out to the Justice Department and Google for comment on the matter but did not receive a reply. The FTC declined to comment on the issue.
Breitbart News reported in March of this year that Silicon Valley giant Google has been fined $1.7 billion by the European Union for the company’s third breach of E.U. antitrust laws in three years. The latest fine against the company relates to Google’s AdSense advertising service and “illegal practices in search advertising brokering to cement its dominant market position,” according to European Competition Commissioner Margrethe Vestager.
Vestager and her team concluded that third-party websites that sued Google to power their search and advertising features had “restrictive clauses in contracts” preventing them from hosting ads from rival...
Kim Jong Un 'executes senior officials' after failed Trump summit
The North Korean leader and the US president walked away from their second summit in Vietnam due to a dispute over sanctions.
North Korea has executed a number of senior officials involved in failed talks with the US in Vietnam, according to a report.
The second summit between Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump ended in failure back in February, with the two leaders walking away from negotiations in Hanoi due to a dispute over sanctions.
South Korean newspaper the Chosun Ilbo said Kim Hyok Chol, the special North Korean envoy to the US, and other officials who carried out working-level talks during the summit were held responsible by Pyongyang for its collapse and were killed as part of a massive purge in March.
The Choson Ilbo said the killings were carried out to divert attention away from internal turmoil and discontent, with a recent UN report claiming the country's population is living in a "vicious cycle of deprivation, corruption and repression".
Kim Hyok Chol and his colleagues were reportedly killed after being charged with spying for the US.
Another senior official, Kim Yong Chol - the counterpart to US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo ahead of the meeting - is also reported to have been subjected to forced labour and ideological education.
Kim Jong Un is also said to have inflicted punishment upon his interpreter at the summit, Shin Hye Yong, supposedly for undermining his authority and making a "critical interpretation mistake".
His sister, Kim Yo Jong, is said to be "lying low" in light of the brutal crackdown, as she also attended the...
The 90 Miles Mystery Box: Episode #640
You have come across a mystery box. But what is inside?
It could be literally anything from the serene to the horrific,
from the beautiful to the repugnant,
from the mysterious to the familiar.
If you decide to open it, you could be disappointed,
you could be inspired, you could be appalled.
This is not for the faint of heart or the easily offended.
You have been warned.
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