14 DAY TRIAL // The FTC really has it in for Google. It hasn't been able to get anything on the giant company, but not for lack of trying. Every acquisition is intensely scrutinized and the FTC has been trying to build an antitrust case against the company for years without much to show for it, even with all the help from Microsoft.
But while the FTC is still working on building a case against Google over ads and search (but mostly ads) it got an unexpected but very welcomed gift in the form of Motorola.
Google only finalized the deal for the phone maker earlier this year, the FTC gave the go-ahead.
The latest rumor, from Bloomberg which has been churning out a few of these lately, says the same FTC is now looking to sue Google over patent suits it inherited from Motorola.
The FTC, apparently, believes this is monopolistic behavior and Google's abuses of the patent system must end. Yes, Google's "abuses" of the patent system.
Not Apple, Microsoft or Oracle's, the companies that have been suing Google and its partners left and right for the past few years.
There is a point to be made here, Motorola was suing Apple and Microsoft over patents that are supposed to be licensed under so called FRAND, fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
The core of the dispute was Motorola's unreasonable demands, it asked for a much bigger cut than these patents should fetch.
But Google dropped the lawsuit a month ago, quite mysteriously in fact since it didn't explain why. Yet now, a month later, the FTC is still investigating the matter and, what's more, is thinking of pursuing a full blown lawsuit.
Mind you, this is on top of the existing antitrust investigation undergoing at the FTC. The federal agency is looking to sue Google over what it believes are unfair practices in the ad and search business.