“The Federal Trade Commission commends Apple and Eric Schmidt’s decision on their parting of the ways this morning, but it appears that the federal investigation into the so-called “interlocking directorates” will continue, and that cannot be good news for either company,” jim Goldman reports or CNBC. “In a statement released this afternoon, FTC Bureau of Competition Director Richard Feinstein says:”
On August 3, 2009, Apple announced that Eric E. Schmidt, Chief Executive Officer of Google, was stepping down from its board. “We have been investigating the Google/Apple interlocking directorates issue for some time and commend them for recognizing that sharing directors raises competitive issues, as Google and Apple increasingly compete with each other,” said Bureau of Competition Director Richard Feinstein. “We will continue to investigate remaining interlocking directorates between the companies.”
The FTC’s Bureau of Competition works with the Bureau of Economics to investigate alleged anticompetitive business practices and, when appropriate, recommends that the Commission take law enforcement action.
Goldman writes, “That’s a big time bummer for Apple and Google, both of which are facing various levels of federal inquiry. Neither needs to be attracting more government attention, and the statement by the FTC just goes to show how late Apple and Google were in recognizing the conflicts of interest Schmidt’s ongoing role on Apple’s board posed… Former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson still serves on both boards. I don’t see that continuing very much longer and it sure will be interesting – and send a very intriguing message – when he ultimately chooses one board over another. Same goes with Al Gore.”
Read more in the full article here.
You can’t get rid of Gore. It’s an inconvenient truth that he invented the Internet! Apple owes everything to him!!!
“Gore next to go?”
Well, that’s definitely something MDN would love to see. Maybe Karl Rove will replace him.
I motion to get rid of all douches on Apple’s Board.
ALL DOUCHES OUT!
Please please yes. Let Gore go.
What is Gore the head of that would require him to part ways with Apple?
I thought Gore was the one that sent Greenpeace after HP.
I don’t see what purpose Al Gore serves, being on the Apple’s board. Even politically, I don’t think he has very much pull these days.
“”Gore next to go?”
Well, that’s definitely something MDN would love to see. Maybe Karl Rove will replace him.”
and Schmidt could be replaced by Rush!
@artist
At least Rush has a vested interest in Apple and it’s well being.
“I actually think Google has achieved their goal [seeking not to get locked out of the mobile phone world] without Android, and I now think Android hurts them more than it helps them. It’s just going to divide them and people who want to be their partners.”
– Steve Jobs, January 2008
There certainly seems to be a lot of interest in making sure Apple’s board is “right.” But some might suggest that, with the current board, Apple has been doing stunningly well. Sounds like just the right time to change things around so that Apple can get on a NEW “right track.”
Then again, maybe people should just stay out of it and let Apple continue to do what it’s doing. Is there someone who has a problem with AAPL’s recent performance or the quality of their products?
So what’s the REAL agenda here in for all the calls to change the board?
Those must be non-shareholders calling for change…
What “remaining interlocking directorates” between Apple and Google is the FTC talking about? Does Apple have one of its own on Google’s board?
And what’s the problem with Genentech’s Levinson? It’s not like they’re in the same business. Genentech probably buys a lot of Xserves, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Or is it that the government doesn’t like having the heads of too many successful companies in the same room?
They use a loose definition of compete. How do Apple and Google compete?
In the only area Google makes money, search, Apple does not compete. Google does not sell a mobile OS, they give it away to 3rd parties. Apple does not sell a mobile OS, and they do not give it away to 3rd parties. Neither Apple nor Google sell their browsers. Google does not compete with Apple in hardware. Google does not compete with iTunes. Where exactly are they competing?
How exactly are the competing? For parking space in the exec car park of course ….
God, I hope Gore’s next!
It’s finally starting: Open mockery of Barack Obama, as disillusionment sets in with the man, his anti-American policies, and his phony image of a race-healing, brilliant, scholarly, middle-of-the-roader.
A poster is spreading across Los Angeles that depicts Obama as a Heath Ledger-style Joker along with the caption “Socialism.”
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/08/barack_obama_laughingstock.html
@Obama is a clown
Who let you morons in? Was your KKK meeting rescheduled or something?
Dustbuster,
Yeah, I’m in the KKK because I believe that what people earn is theirs, not to be confiscated and wasted on bloated, inefficient government programs that purport to fix problems, but actually create more than they solve.
Plus, I doubt the Klan would take me as I’m black. That’s “African American” for all of you brainwashed knee-jerk liberals.
@ Obama is a clown
ROTFLMAO
I would rather be a bustduster than a dustbuster….but that’s just me.
Where would Gore go? Well…….here-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilgore,_Texas
There are a lot of local businesses that would like to have him,uh, on a board.
Macintosh Sauce,
Next to Sarah Palin, I’m the Libs’ worst nightmare: A black man capable of independent thought.
I can see that voting in lock-step for Democrats over the last 60 years has only gotten us blacks more and more enslaved to the government.
We traded one form of slavery for another.
Live free or die, brotha. Live free or die.
MDN MW: “truth.” No lie.
What’s wrong with socialism?
If you’re going to use it as the bogeyman, elaborate on it.
Left, Right, that’s all your pathetic minds can conceive of?
Note Schmidt chose google over apple…He quit apple not google.
People were calling Obama a failure on his first day in office. Conservatives have no identity outside of hating people who try to fix what they have done to America in the last eight years.
Because many here are apparently Reading Comprehension Challenged – will post these same comments at all the Schmidt Stories, in hopes the repetition might possibly enhance your ability to understand.
On Schmidt …
Everyone’s just pokin’ and hopin’ – Some are more hope than poke, and few give any detailed specifics.
Since a picture is worth 1,000 words – looks like Joy of Tech comes closest with their “explanations”
Least on the Google Voice, but probably applies to the story in general
http://www.geekculture.com/joyoftech/index.html
Now, let’s talk about Gore, but with this one rule …
In order to say anything about Gore you must be a Vet from either WW2, Korea, Nam, to Gulf War 1 or 2
And you must have been “In Country” even if it was “in the rear with the gear” writing for Stars and Stripes
Or you must have at least been subject to The Draft – the Real One that could have put you in The Shit
If you’re a Senator’s Son whose Daddy got you out of The Shit via National Guard
(and there are still lingering questions if you ever showed up for that ? )
Well, just declare “Mission Accomplished” then go work on some nucular initiatives
We are Americans and we will always place Great Value on Service to Community and Nation
Talk is cheap, you must do something – and not something for sake of money, ego, or to avoid any hassles
It must be selfless, with charity and intended thoughts of helping others, not for yourself
And like the Boy Scout helping Lil ol’ Lady across street – if anyone sees you do it, it don’t count
So, if you qualify under this “rule” ?
Then chime in with some smart ass remarks
And we’ll go from there
BC
Wikipedia lists Al Gore as a senior advisor to Google. What exactly to members of the Board of Directors do? Is it possible that Gore does honest work inside Apple, rather then just pulling political strings? (I know that would NEVER occur to some people.)
BC
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Why the rule?
Just to make it easier on you?
I think the bong water has sunk your boat….
It’s obvious that Obama is a fag. The video proof is right here:
That linebacker Michelle that he married not only has the guns, she’s got the balls.
@Mike
Unsurprisingly, Obama’s a lefty.
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@ Mike
What’s with the middle school insults? Try not to sound so childish next time. It’s quiet funny how ignorant some people can be in the 21st century.
*quite
well, it’s loud funny now!
The FTC needs to be investigated.
Who is influencing them?
TT
Please
Thought you were better than just lame graffiti
Was I wrong about you?
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BC
Yes, this makes LOTS of sense, investigate an honest company like Apple, and leave Goldman Sachs/Citibank/Insurance/Pharma/Other-Criminal-Enterprise-of-your-choice alone.
Yes, investigating Apple’s board will solve all the financial shenanigans, yes, yes.
And here people are diving right in, debating Apple’s board instead of the issue you’re NOT supposed to focus upon.
–Ron
to B.C.
Let’s not be 2-P.C.
I still don’t get the rule…
so let’s talk about Gore with another rule….
In order to say anything about Gore you must be a REAL politician
who served at least one FULL term
And voted on, let’s just say, Most of the iMPORTANT issues
Statewide or nationwide.
AND who had been in the private sector
enough to understand it
(and hiring a shadow writer doesn’t count)
Well, if you can’t, just have your minister declare ‘God-Damn America!’
-but make sure no one sees you there :-0
It’s all graffiti here, BC
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Don’t take yourself too seriously…..
Take myself “seriously” ?
HERE ?
With such Educated and Perceptive Folks like YOU around ?
Wouldn’t stand a chance
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Am curious, however, about your curiosity about any “rule”
What part don’t you understand ?
And also curious if the “rule” you’ve given applies to you ?
If not, then how can you authenticate anyone’s validity ?
How would you know if they might only be talking out their ass ?
Or is your “rule” just another Bumper Sticker ?
Not that there’s anything “wrong” with Graffiti Bumper Stickers
Just hope, on occasion, we can elevate ourselves beyond simplistic radio show trash talk
Serious or not
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BC
Authenticate anyone’s validity based on what?
My rule was to exclude myself.
Yours excluded the 42nd and 44th Presidents.
OK, so mine excluded the 44th. Not my fault…
Yours seemed a way to artificially elevate your opinion over others based on what reasoning? That you are validated, and therefore deemed more important? To speak about Gore?
Why not use religion, race, or hair color?
I’ll tell you what, let’s make it a rule that those who presuppose themselves to be superior intellectually, with the ability to reduce all others to being ‘common’ and ‘not capable of an original thought’, to be the arbitrators of this forum!
Well, I guess that leaves you (temporarily) in charge.
Now, direct us, enlightened one!!!
(And hurry, other pseudonyms abound!!!!)
There’re more ignorant haters here than Santa Clara’s got vampires…”American Thinker” – HA! *That*’s a thought-free zone.
LOL! Obama has anti-American policies?
You mean like torture?
You mean like warantless spying on American citizens?
You mean like doing nothing while an American city gets annihilated by a hurricane?
You mean like obliterating our budget surplus and running up monumental deficits so rich people don’t have to pay too much in taxes?
I guess Obama must have implemented all those policies? Oh wait, that was George W. Bush.
QED.
Rob
Good name for you.
Muddman
I feel ya’.
You’ll never see trash talk like this in the NY Times or Wash Post
http://www.americanthinker.com/2009/08/maureen_dowd_sarah_palin_scare.html
..for a reason, of course.
TT
C’mon … 42nd was a bubba nobody raised by a single parent (not counting the alcoholic step father) from gumpstump nowhere who played the dodge game in those days fair and square by his own efforts, with no help from dad, family connections, or wealth – so that puts him in similar category as 43VP and many others who did the same. Perhaps not “noble” but that’s a definition which at times can be a moving target. (44 was what, 5 or 6 ?)
To talk of race or hair color? Please, no one has a choice in those matters. Well, ok, maybe hair color. Or if Michael Jackson with wad of cash. Hell, if got the money can even change your gender, ouch.
But we do have choices in “religion” – least here in USA – and believe all of them speak of some type of “service to others”
So no problem pointing at those topics, but let’s stay on the main path so we don’t get sidetracked on any dead ends.
Which brings us to perhaps your real beef with me ?
That I’m maybe an arrogant, pompous, know-it-all bastard ?
Thanks, is a never ending process, so’s being a wise ass
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I gladly accept the challenge (which I hope we all do) to attempt to bring some Light and Reason to anyone’s dreary – yes, even beleaguered – existence as we share in our love of all things Apple and fight the Forces of Ignorance and Darkness that Microsoft represents.
And always with hopes of helping others find the Simple and Elegant Peace and Joy we know.
Now, if I may assume ?
You seem hesitant to ask the question, but allow me to answer it anyway ?
The “rule” about Gore is to try to get some Folks here to accept, or at least appreciate, the Value he brings to Apple, regardless of Politics. This Value was something recognized and praised in USA for Generations, regardless of Politics, with what we called Service, usually the Military. Since we haven’t had the Draft for a while now, are very few these days who truly know what it means to “Serve the Common Good.”
Gore brings that Experience to Apple, and those who also have it should easily see and know his worth, regardless of Politics.
Oh yea, and no Self-Respecting Official Hippie from the Old Days would ever be caught using a Bong.
If for no other reason, hard to eat if you get stopped on the street
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Braunstein Freres™
BC
Ok, you can now have a turn “in charge” – got a plan or direction ?
Why is it every time the Republicans are in power, the deficit goes through the roof, and there is not a peep from these so called conservatives. What happened to ‘stay the course’? Don’t you idiots have a free speech zone you should be in?
I would much rather live in a socialist America than a Christian Iran.
Roofer, “I would much rather live in a socialist America than a Christian Iran.”
You’ll soon get your wish.
Sigh.
“It’s an inconvenient truth that he invented the Internet!”
I wish, that just once, people slinging this around would actually, y’know, RESEARCH what this came from. For you benefit, I’ll reproduce the original quote, with a contextual clarification:
“During my service in the United States Congress, I took the initiative [in the congress] in creating the Internet”.
Vint Cerf and Bob Kahn, two of the Internet’s true fathers have said that
“”as far back as the 1970s, Congressman Gore promoted the idea of high speed telecommunications as an engine for both economic growth and the improvement of our educational system. He was the first elected official to grasp the potential of computer communications to have a broader impact than just improving the conduct of science and scholarship […] the Internet, as we know it today, was not deployed until 1983. When the Internet was still in the early stages of its deployment, Congressman Gore provided intellectual leadership by helping create the vision of the potential benefits of high speed computing and communication. As an example, he sponsored hearings on how advanced technologies might be put to use in areas like coordinating the response of government agencies to natural disasters and other crises.”
So, I would say he’s earned a place on Apple’s board. Y’know, he actually, like, KNEW things, and had insights, as opposed to some here …
“I believe that what people earn is theirs, not to be confiscated and wasted on bloated, inefficient government programs”
Funny then that conservative governments consistently outspend democrat ones
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Also, this paranoia about the word “socialism”. First, almost every country in the west is “socialist” by your standards. And the US is to my knowledge the only country in the west where you have to have two jobs to be able to get by. These “socialist” countries also generally have better press freedom, almost all have less poverty and better health, and their peoples are as happy as people in the US. The world gets kinda one-sided when everything but cut-throat capitalism is socialism. In most of the world Obama would be considered a moderate conservative.
Al Gore is a conflict of interest to himself.
@themotie:
You seem to think that the government has the answer to everything. Since Al Gore held a meeting in the Govt. land therefore the internet was started right? So if Al Gore had not had his Govt. meeting we would have no internet?
“These “socialist” countries also generally have better press freedom, almost all have less poverty and better health, and their peoples are as happy as people in the US.”
LOL. Where do you get your distorted anti-US facts?
“In most of the world Obama would be considered a moderate conservative.” Of course, you have a poll to back that one up. Rather in most of the world Obama would be considered either a liberal and/or a Muslim.
William Ashley and themotie, et al
As my Grandpappy Kelly used to say, “This a private fight, or can anybody join?”
For the last 30 years been a lot of talk – “Government is not the Solution, but the Problem”
Yes it is – if you’re Microsoft, or Enron, or Wall Street, or Big Banks
This is American – WE are the Government, We The People
And WE are tired of Wall Streeters or Microsofters screwing things up for rest of us while they get richer
So WE, on occasion, pass Laws and Regulations to do what they won’t – control their damn gluttonous greed
And yes, that is “socialism” – this is the place that invented it – Yes, USA was first Socialist Country in History
(you may have heard about it, was in all the papers
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And if anyone doesn’t want We The People to control those guys and their wanton ways ?
No problem, in about 3 years and 3 months we get to do another unique thing in World History
Something else we invented – called an Election (you may have heard about it, was in all the papers
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And you have every Right to allow them back into Power and continue the path they put us on 30 years ago
As we got Government off their backs and let them almost Bankrupt the rest of us
But beware – next time we may not be so lucky
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BC
With discussions like this it is clear MDN is highly polluted.
Schmidt needed to go because he was CEO of Google. Either that or invite Steve to their board. The others do not have such a vested stake.
@ NCIceman – Thank you for that breath of on-topic sanity!
@ BC Kelly – Respect!
Oh, sorry, serious Head Up Historical Ass
We – USA – did not invent Elections, D’oh …
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Was Hellenic Republic (Bubba, you know them as the Greeks)
They invented a lot of “things”
BC
And Ichabod, ty, I think?
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And although USA as a Country may have invented “Socialism”
Many argue the idea/practice/reality – its Invention
Christian Movement in 1st Century CE/AD