Published in News

Apple, Google and Yahoo in anti-trust probe

by on03 June 2009

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Employment concerns


The US Justice
department has announced that it is investigating Apple, Google and Yahoo over the way they block recruiting and hiring of one another's employees.

The department is concerned that employment contracts are being used by companies to control the actions of their competitors, which falls under anti-trust laws. Although Apple, Google and Yahoo have been named by the department, a spokesman said that it is part of an industry wide probe into the antics of high-tech companies.

Most tech companies have clauses in contracts which are designed to stop employees leaving with sensitive information and giving it to a rival. However the DoJ said such clauses appear to be being used to stifle competition.

It is odd that IBM was not mentioned in the probe. It has been particularly possessive about keeping its top talent. Last month, the company filed a lawsuit in federal court to prevent its former head of mergers and acquisitions, David Johnson, from joining Dell, saying it would be a violation of his contract and last year it tried a similar plan to stop Mark Papermaster from joining Apple.
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