In a brazen move, the top antitrust official at the US Justice Department last month had advised state prosecutors to reject a confidential antitrust complaint filed by Google against Microsoft, according to a latest report by the New York Times. The confidential antitrust complaint filed by Google is tied to a consent decree that monitors Microsoft’s behavior. Google has alleged that Microsoft is designing its latest operating system, Vista, to discourage the use of Google’s desktop search program, lawyers involved in the case said.
The report said that the top official, Thomas O. Barnett, an assistant attorney general, had until 2004 been a top level antitrust partner at the law firm that has represented Microsoft in several antitrust disputes. However, Justice Department officials said that he never worked on Microsoft matters, at the firm. Barnett’s memo dismissing Google’s claims was sent to state attorneys general around the nation, which shocked many of them. Interestingly, a few state officials went on to the extent to say they believed that Google’s complaint had merit. They also expressed the fact that they could not recall receiving a request by any head of the Justice Department’s antitrust division to terminate any investigation.
Google spokesman Ricardo Reyes in its official communique said, ‘Microsoft’s current approach with Vista desktop search violates the consent decree and limits consumer choice. The search boxes built throughout Vista are hard-wired to Microsoft’s own desktop search product, with no way for users to choose an alternate provider from these visible search access points. Likewise, Vista makes it impractical to turn off Microsoft’s search index.’
In response to the development, Microsoft has said that it would be willing to make more transformation in Vista, to a point, to address Google’s concerns. Nevertheless, the firm said that it does not believe that Windows Vista’s desktop search tool violates the consent decree. And the bone of contention is likely to persist pertaing to the issue of letting consumers change Windows Vista’s built-in search boxes to a non-Microsoft desktop search provider.
However, the recent development has certainly left the Bush administration embarrassed. Some state attorneys general are now determined to pursue the Google complaint, but it underscores what could be seen as an damaging bias of the current administration toward Microsoft. However, Microsoft has not been implicated in drafting or distribution of the memo so far and it has reportedly distanced itself from the affair by stating through its general counsel Bradford Smith that it is unaware of the Barnett memo.
