Antitrust

The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away the Federal Trade Commission's bid to impose antitrust penalties that would have limited the royalties collected by memory-chip technology firm Rambus Inc. The justices, without comment, left intact a federal appeals court decision favoring Rambus, which gets more than 80% of its revenue from royalties.

Ticketmaster's chief executive sought to allay antitrust fears Thursday over the ticket seller's planned merger with concert promoter Live Nation by revealing that a major venue operator has threatened to cancel its contract if the merger goes through. The revelation, made before a House subcommittee examining the deal for antitrust concerns, was meant to suggest that the merger might weaken Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc.'s grip on ticket contracts with a majority of top U.S. venues.

Senators and independent concert promoters took turns at a hearing Tuesday slamming a proposed merger of two of the biggest forces in the music industry -- Ticketmaster Entertainment Inc. and Live Nation Worldwide Inc. "It seems to be monopolistic, plain and simple," Sen. Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) said. "This is not the American dream, as the companies' witnesses might have you believe."

In an effort to help struggling newspapers stay in business, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is asking the Justice Department to broaden its view of media competition when reviewing merger proposals. Pelosi sent a letter to the Justice Department on Monday saying any antitrust concerns that arise from proposed mergers between newspapers should take into account online news sources and nearby daily and weekly papers "so that the conclusions reached reflect current market realities." The Hearst Corp.

Google Inc. acknowledged Thursday that the Federal Trade Commission was making antitrust inquiries into ties between the search giant and Apple Inc., which are increasingly competing in areas such as mobile phones. But Google Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said that relinquishing his seat on the Apple board of directors "hasn't crossed my mind." "I don't think Google sees Apple as a primary competitor," Schmidt told reporters before the company's annual shareholder meeting in Mountain View.

A federal judge on Tuesday declined to force Gannett Co. to keep open the Tucson Citizen, meaning the edition of the afternoon newspaper published Saturday was its last. U.S. District Judge Raner Collins denied a request for a temporary restraining order filed by Arizona Atty. Gen. Terry Goddard, who contended that closing the 138-year-old paper violated antitrust laws.

The Justice Department on Thursday said it had launched a formal antitrust investigation into the proposed settlement over the Google Inc. project to scan millions of books into a digital format. The department in April canvassed organizations, including two nonprofit groups, that raised objections to Google's settlement with the Authors Guild and the American Assn. of Publishers. The queries were considered informal.

Seeking more time to iron out concerns raised last week by federal antitrust regulators, the Authors Guild and the Assn. of American Publishers on Tuesday asked a federal judge to delay an Oct. 7 hearing on a controversial settlement with Google Inc. The settlement, which requires court approval, would pave the way for the Mountain View, Calif., Internet search company to create a digital library containing millions of out-of-print books. The U.S. Department of Justice filed a brief Friday with the court outlining concerns that the agreement "as proposed" could run afoul of class-action, antitrust and copyright laws.

When Utah went undefeated in its 2008-09 football season but was not chosen to play in the national championship game, the slight was not unnoticed by the state's senior senator. The Bowl Championship Series has drawn loud criticism lately from lawmakers, fans, coaches and even President Obama, who said after his election that he would use his influence as chief executive to push for a playoff system.

The chairman of a Senate panel on antitrust issues on Tuesday called on the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department to scrutinize competitiveness in the cellphone industry, pointing to a 100% increase in some text messaging charges by four companies that control most of the market. Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisconsin) said that from 2006 to 2008, the price charged by the four biggest carriers for sending and receiving such messages rose from 10 cents to 20 cents.