Microsoft asks FTC to address alleged information leak amid reported antitrust investigation
Microsoft wants the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether the agency violated its own rules by allegedly leaking information related to an antitrust investigation into the Redmond, Wash.-based technology giant.
Bloomberg It was first reported last week that the FTC had issued an information request to Microsoft as part of a new antitrust investigation.
But in an email sent to the FTC inspector general on Tuesday and posted publicly on LinkedInMicrosoft deputy general counsel Rima Alaily said that Microsoft has not yet received formal legal proceedings from the FTC and that the company learned of the information request from a Bloomberg article.
Allelli wrote that the details reported by Bloomberg suggest that the FTC leaked information to the news media.
“Ironically, nearly a week after notifying the press of the purported information request to Microsoft, we still have not been able to obtain a copy of this document from the FTC,” Allelli wrote in an email.
“I ask that you investigate whether FTC management improperly leaked this confidential information to the media in violation of the agency’s ethics and practice rules,” she added.
We reached out to the FTC, but a spokesperson declined to comment. A Microsoft spokesman referred to Allelli’s email.
The Bloomberg report “seems consistent with the unfortunate trend over the past two years of strategic leaks of non-public information by the Federal Trade Commission,” Allelli wrote.
She cited a recent Federal Trade Commission Report An increasing number of unauthorized disclosures were noted.
“While this leak is an unfortunate incident for Microsoft, it is even more problematic for the integrity of the FTC process,” Allelli wrote.
Other branches include financial times, new york times, Associated Pressand information reports on the Federal Trade Commission’s new antitrust investigation into Microsoft, which is said to focus on various aspects of the company’s business, including cloud computing services, software licensing and artificial intelligence partnerships.
Bloomberg pointed out that the information request is a “parting shot” for FTC Chairman Lena Khan, and the future of the investigation will depend on the successor of the incoming Trump administration. Khan has led antitrust push against tech giantsand it remains to be seen whether this will continue under the new FTC chairman.
Federal Trade Commission January roll out Separate investigation into Microsoft’s investment in OpenAI.
2024-12-03 20:02:41