According to the Washington Post, the investigation is the result of Google’s acquisition of DoubleClick back in 2008 for a hefty $3.1 billion. Such a purchase raised the FTC’s hackles over whether possessing the advertisement platform, in addition to its own AdSense, could put the Internet giant in a position to harm its competitors. Google went ahead with the buyout, and has been under the FTC’s eye in that regards since then.

One of the biggest concerns specified by the FTC was something referred to as tying, which shoehorns consumers into having to buy multiple products from a single company. This is anti-competitive, and likewise would put Google in violation of the law. This concern was raised shortly before the DoubleClick acquisition, and since then the percentage of the advertisement market Google controls has increased.

Beyond its newly launched preliminary investigation, not much else is known at the moment. We’ll have to wait to see if Google has violated any laws, but it is possible the investigation will be wrapped up and will fade away without any hoopla, as has been the case many times. When asked about the investigation, both the FTC and Google declined commenting on the matter.

This follows the antitrust debacle Google went through with the FTC throughout last year, eventually settling with the agency back in January for terms many criticized as being a mere slap on the hand. While that investigation partly concerned the advertisement aspects of Google, in addition to a variety of other issues, including prioritizing its own results over competitors, the issue was separate from this one.

SOURCE: Washington Post

The European Commission believes that Huawei and ZTE may possibly be receiving unfair subsidies that allow it in turn to undercut its European rivals. EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht is taking charge of this operation, and will ultimately be deciding whether or not to go through with the investigation. He will also be investigating whether or not these companies pose a danger to national security. Last February, he told Reuters that “there were ‘serious security concerns’ involving mobile telecom networks,” and noted Huawei in his statement.

The EU tried to seek help from several European manufacturers, including Ericsson, Alcatel-Lucent, and Nokia Siemens. All of the companies refused to offer their help because of the potential risk that follow along. If they were to participate in the investigation, they fear that they would be shut out of the Chinese telecoms market, a growing market that is very important for these businesses.

Along with the lack of support from European manufacturers, several EU countries are divided on the issue as well. Britain and the Netherlands are supportive of Huawei because it is a major job provider in Europe. Other countries are concerned about Huawei gaining more influence in their wireless markets. These countries are mainly concerned about the espionage rumors that have circulated both Huawei and ZTE.

Many countries had concerns that the Chinese government was using Huawei and ZTE devices to spy on other nations. This caused a huge scare amongst many countries. Canada considered banning Huawei devices from its government, the United States launched a provision that placed restrictions on U.S. government agencies from purchasing devices from these businesses, and Germany restricted Huawei from supplying its products for a national academic research network.

Huawei and ZTE have continuously denied that their devices are used to spy on other nations. They also say that they are not receiving unfair subsidies, and the low cost of their products is due to the low-cost of their manufacturing, as well as their own innovation. They say that they have always complied with international laws. Karel De Gucht will discuss the possibility of this investigation with other EU trade minsters at a meeting in Dublin this week.

[via Reuters]

Specifically, the affected vehicles include Ford’s Escape and Fusion, and Mercury’s Mariner and Milan, all of them being the 2009 to 2011 models. Concerning all four vehicles, the NHTSA has received 1,448 complaints from drivers who say that their car has experienced some sort of engine issue, with it either stalling or slowing or surging.

The first round of complaints regarding the issue affected vehicles older than those caught up in the security probe, with Ford’s Escape being the primary focus (2005 through 2012 models). When looking into the issue, the agency reported that the problem could be caused by variations in circuit boards that messed with the throttle position sensor.

Because of this, the engine is affected, and drivers have experienced issues that are partly dependent on the vehicle they are driving. Some drivers will experience engine surges at idle and low speed operation due to reduced engine power edging towards a stall. The agency says, however, that the affected vehicles will probably not experience a sudden engine stall.

[via Wall Street Journal]

For those not in the know, the FTC has been looking at claims that peg Google with anti-competitive behavior. According to some of Google’s competitors, the big G has been giving its own services precedence over their services in search results. That, obviously, has Google’s competitors upset, which is why the FTC launched an investigation that has now lasted 18 months. Google has also had to deal with claims that it isn’t being fair in licensing out Motorola‘s standard-essential patents.

Google’s fate may not be as grim as the one suggested above, however, as the FTC could simply force Google to change its search results so that the listings more clearly show what’s being offered by Google and what isn’t. Google continues to claim that it has done nothing wrong, but ultimately, that will be up to the FTC. Shutting down services certainly isn’t something Google wants to do, so it’s pretty easy to understand why Google has been fighting these claims.

Whatever’s actually going on behind the scenes, we should have the FTC’s decision at least relatively soon. If the commission’s decision on whether or not to take Google to court is really coming up before the end of the year, then things should be ramping up (or alternatively dying down) pretty quick. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear for more information.

The probe is being carried out by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, which posted a document of driver complaints regarding the issue on its website. Specifically, the investigation is looking into the issue of “a cruise-control cable collar [that] can fracture at a mounting bracket and cause the throttles to stick open.” A recall would affect approximately 310,000 vehicles.

Ford spokesperson Marcy Zwiebel said, “Ford is aware of NHTSA’s preliminary investigation on 2000 to 2003 Taurus and Sable models and will cooperate fully with the investigation as we conduct our analysis. We have just begun our analysis and we have very limited information at this time. Until we are able to gather more information and complete our own investigation, we cannot speculate as to what actually occurred during the reported incidents.”

This comes after the NHTSA’s investigation back in March regarding sticky throttles in 2001 through 2006 Taurus and Sable models. That issue was closed by the government agency without a recall and was replaced by this new preliminary probe. The last investigation concerned a different cruise control element.

[via The Droid Guy]

An investigation that looked into the dedicated Internet connection running from the Dotcom mansion to the Sky Tower in Auckland is underway. Dotcom reportedly had a dedicated Internet connection to help him on his quest to become the top-ranked Modern Warfare 3 player in the world. Dotcom was apparently the number one ranked player in the game before he was arrested.

During Dotcom’s quest to achieve the number one ranking in the game, staff at Gen-I began an investigation looking into the amount of time it took the Internet signal from the mansion to reach offshore Xbox servers. The amount of time that it took data from Dotcom’s Xbox to reach the Xbox server increased from 30 ms to 180 ms, which is a huge increase for a gamer.

Engineers for the ISP used a Trace Route search and discovered that the Internet signal from Dotcom’s home was being diverted inside New Zealand. During the course of the investigation engineers determined that where the Internet traffic had previously needed two hops to reach the servers, it was now taking five. The indication from the investigation is that authorities in New Zealand may have been spying on Dotcom for longer duration than it has previously admitted to sparking new cries for investigation into the government’s surveillance efforts in the case.

[via NZHerald]

Once Svartholm touched down at Stockholm’s Arlanda Airport in Sweden, local authorities immediately detained him due to a suspicion of him being involved in the hacking of Logica, a Swedish IT company that works with local tax authorities. However, since Svartholm hasn’t yet been charged officially in the Logica case, he could only be held in jail for a few days.

Then again, Svartholm will be stuck in jail for at least two more weeks, thanks to request put in by Prosecuter Henry Olin, who insists that Svartholm remain detained while the investigation into the Logica hack continues. To prevent the Pirate Bay co-founder from interfering with the investigation, Svartholm is not allowed to have visitors and is being denied access to newspapers and television.

Two other Swedish citizens were also arrested and put in jail under suspicion of being involved in the Logica hack as well. One of the suspects was a member of the group that founded The Pirate Bay back in 2003. Both suspects have since been released. Svartholm denies any involvement with the Logica hack.

In related news, The Pirate Bay website seems to be down. Whether or not this is a permanent shut down is still to be known.

[via TorrentFreak]

Reding says that Apple does a good job advertising that all of the company’s products come with a one-year warranty, but they fail to bring up that consumers are actually entitled to a completely-free two-year warranty under European Union law. “These are unacceptable marketing practices,” says Reding.

Apple has already paid a fine to Italy for similar practices last year. They were required to pay up 900,000 euros ($1.16 million) because they misled consumers by advertising that its products came with a one-year warranty over the two-year warranty that was set by law. Instead, Apple was encouraging sales of its AppleCare warranty extension.

Apple didn’t comment on the situation other than directing people to their EU statutory warranty page, where it states that EU law covers defects in the product starting at the time of delivery, while Apple’s one-year warranty and AppleCare cover defects after the buyer receives the device. Either way, Reding is pushing for a Europe-wide investigation into the matter, and is urging all 27 member states to investigate.

It isn’t illegal for Facebook to build that database, but it is illegal for Facebook to do it without the consent of its users. Facebook hasn’t done that, instead including everyone in the collection from the start, and giving users the opportunity to opt-out. Since Facebook hasn’t complied, Caspar is demanding that the company destroy its database of German users and begin collecting data from only those who have given their consent.

Facebook, for its part, thinks that its policies are in line with privacy laws in Ireland, where the company’s European efforts are based, but Ireland isn’t sure that’s the case. Irish data officials will be conducting another audit of the company’s practices, and in the meantime, deputy data commissioner Gary Davis says that Facebook has agreed to temporarily to suspend picture tagging for all European users who join after July 1.

Caspar says that his investigation should be finished by the end of September, by which time he will formally request that Facebook change its policy. With Germany demanding that Facebook destroy its database, don’t expect the company to follow orders without putting up a fight. Stay tuned, because we could be headed for a whole new privacy fight over in Europe.

Samsung tells The Verge that it has conducted investigations of HEG on two earlier occasions this year and found nothing alarming while it was there. CLW claims that many more underage workers could be employed by HEG, as it wasn’t allowed to fully investigate all of the company’s departments. Now, Samsung is visiting HEG on August 9 to find out what, exactly, is going on and “take appropriate measures to correct any problems that may surface.”

Of course, this isn’t the first time we’ve heard about shady situations with Chinese suppliers. Companies like Apple and Microsoft have come under fire in the past for dealing with suppliers who are lax when it comes to working conditions and child labor. Needless to say, it doesn’t paint a very good public picture when stuff like this gets out, so Samsung obviously wants to address the problems CLW discovered as quickly as possible.

Hopefully Samsung doesn’t find anything bad while there, but it’s very possible that HEG covered up any wrongdoing as best it could when Samsung visited earlier in the year. This time around, you can bet that Samsung will do its best to prevent anything from slipping by it, because reacting quickly is the best thing the company can do with CLW’s report out in the open. Stay tuned, as we’ll have more details about this investigation once they become available.

So, what’s the big deal about this information? Well, it wasn’t just up-close data for Google Maps the Street View team was collecting – they also intercepted some private emails and passwords from unsecured wireless connections. In other words, Google made a pretty big slip-up, and now these agencies in the UK and France want to know what kind of data Google still has lying around.

Google asked these agencies for permission to delete remaining data, but both the ICO and CNIL want Google to hold onto that data so they have a chance to review it. Hearing Google explain it, the fact that some of this data still exists sounds like a simple oversight, but the company could find itself in a lot of trouble nonetheless. Google also maintains that it never intended to collect this personal data in the first place, claiming that the whole thing was an engineering mistake.

It’s unclear what kind of fines will be imposed this time around, if any are at all. Of course, the fines aren’t nearly large enough for Google executives to lose any sleep over, but this new admission could do quite a bit to harm Google’s public image. We’ll likely be getting more information on this rogue data as these new investigations progress, so keep an ear to SlashGear for additional details.

[via CNET]

The word “could” is key here, as you naturally can’t get in trouble for just selling off your shares. What five law firms want to find out, however, is whether or not these people sold off their stock with the knowledge that a bad quarterly report was on the way. The sell-off evidently occurred back in April, when Zynga’s stock was selling at $12 per share. These days, thanks in part to that underwhelming report for Q2, it’s selling at only $3 per share, so you can see why law firms are interested in the circumstances surrounding the sell-off.

Some of Zynga’s biggest players are being investigated, including CEO Mark Pincus, COO John Schappert, and CFO Dave Wehner. Strange as it may seem, Google is also included in this investigation, along with a number of venture capital firms. Zynga has yet to be hit with a lawsuit, but Ars points out that with so many law firms conducting the investigation, it may not belong before the company finds itself dealing with a class-action lawsuit from investors. If that happens, it’ll be nothing but bad news for the social games maker, so stay tuned.

According to rumors, the investigation into Huawei has to do with illegal Chinese government subsidies and a price dumping scheme. The price dumping scheme is where a company sells products in a foreign market for less money than it sells in its home market and there’s no other explanation for the lower price.

Huawei is officially denying claims that it employs dumping practices, or that it has received any illegal subsidies from the Chinese government. So far, there is no official announcement that the European Commission is actually investigating either company.

“Huawei has not received any communication from the European Commission regarding an investigation, but we are aware of media reports on this matter,” Huawei said in an emailed statement to Reuters.

“We deny claims made in the media that Huawei employs dumping practices and has benefited from illegal state subsidies. Huawei also objects to the investigation that the European Commission is reportedly launching on the basis of these claims.”

[via Reuters]

The quote the landed Dodd in so much hot water was this:

“This industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake,” Dodd told Fox News on Jan. 19. “Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.”

The petition at Whitehouse.gov called for an investigation into Dodd claiming that he publicly admitted bribing politicians to pass legislation favorable to the MPAA. So far, 31,000 people have signed the bribery investigation petition since it was posted on January 21. The White House has offered no comment on the petition thus far because it calls for a legal investigation. The White House said:

“Consistent with the We the People Terms of Participation and our responses to similar petitions in the past, the White House declines to comment on this petition because it requests a specific law enforcement action.”

[via IDG]

Cityam reports that a joint investigation of police and financial regulators is rare. Olympus has admitted to the questionable practices and the company is now looking for buyers and any other means to remedy the situation. Fujifilm has been tipped as one of the parties interested in buying Olympus. The Tokyo high rise raided by the prosecutors is the HQ for three Olympus subsidiaries that were purchased under the scheme to hide losses.

The investigation intensified after a panel of experts that Olympus hired to look into the allegations found that two former senior executives worked with investment bankers to cook up the scheme. The investigation also concludes that three former presidents of the firm including Tsuyoshi Kikukawa knew about the scheme. Kikukawa resigned in October after the scheme first surfaced. Olympus has confirmed the investigation in PDF statements here and here.

[via Cityam]

The response Franken received back from some of the larger carriers were disturbing to those concerned about privacy. In the response to Franken’s inquiry AT&T admitted that it had Carrier IQ installed on 900,000 handsets that were in consumer hands. However, AT&T claims that it only collects data from about 575,000 of those handsets.

Sprint, on the other hand, has 26 million handsets on the market running Carrier IQ software. The carrier maintains that while it has been using Carrier IQ since 2006 it only collects details on network and device performance. Sprint claims that it has never used data collected to serve targeted ads or for any other purpose than device and network performance. Sprint also claims that only about 5% of those 26 million devices are collecting data at any given time. About 30,000 are queried by Sprint personnel at any given time.

[via Computerworld]

Regulators in Europe are looking into the software to ensure that the company isn’t violating the privacy of users. PCWorld reports that the Bavarian State Office for Data Protection has sent a letter to Apple to ask if the company is using the software. The data protection office wants to be sure that the customers and users of smartphones are aware of how their data is collected and used.

Other regulators investigating the use of the Carrier IQ software include the UK Information Commissioner’s Office and the European Consumers Organization. The UK organizations are looking to be sure the private information of UK citizens is being used appropriately.

[via PCWorld]