Another day, another antitrust case for Microsoft as the Federal Trade Commission has reportedly requested information from the computing giant on every aspect of its huge operations.
Microsoft has been sent a letter asking for information on nearly every facet of the company’s business.
It comes after a year of investigations, including interviews with competitors and partners; and as the FTC interrogates what it claims are unfair business practices among some of the world’s biggest technology companies, notably Google.
What Is the FTC Looking At?
It was Bloomberg Law, which broke the story and says that the antitrust case will “drill into everything from the company’s cloud computing and software licensing businesses to cybersecurity offerings and artificial intelligence products”.
It adds that the demand is “hundreds of pages long” but there are few further details. It has signed off by FTC Chair, Lina Khan, who is apparently one of the many Government officials who will be losing their jobs when the administration changes.
This just in! View
the top business tech deals for 2024 👨💻
CNN has taken up the story but both Microsoft and the FTC are declining to comment.
History of Antitrust Investigations
This is far from the first time Microsoft’s business has been under the microscope. It had a well-publicized fight with the FTC over its $69 billion acquisition of video game publisher Activision Blizzard. That was a round that the FTC lost.
On the other side of the Atlantic, the company’s partnership with OpenAI was held up for possible investigation over fair competition standards by the EU; but it was scrapped.
But there is a wider movement by Government departments – the FTC and Justice Department leading – to look at whether Big Tech needs reining in. In 2019, a broad antitrust investigation was announced looking at whether companies were “engaging in practices that have reduced competition, stifled innovation, or otherwise harmed consumers.”
Could Microsoft Case Be Thrown Out Under Trump?
CNN suggests that this could be a strong possibility. Trump and his now right-hand man, Elon Musk, are all about deregulation, especially in crypto-currency, so it could be that when Khan heads off, some of these long-running antitrust cases are simply dropped.
Law firm Hogan Lovells suggests that “the antitrust enforcement agenda of the FTC and DOJ during President Donald Trump’s second term may, at least at the start, be shaped less by what the agencies are doing differently, and more by what they are undoing.”
It also suggests that Musk, as DOGE chief, is planning on slashing both Government headcounts and budgets, which might render any meaningful antitrust cases impossible anyway.
