Neowin News Feed for: Monopoly

LibreOffice bashes Microsoft for "absurd" OOXML format and Excel's handling of dates

Usama Jawad — Wed, 20 May 2026 19:42:01 +0000

LibreOffice just launched another brutal attack on Microsoft Office, accusing it of trapping users with broken and misleading file standards. Read more...

Senator blames Microsoft for weak security in Windows despite having enterprise monopoly

Usama Jawad — Thu, 11 Sep 2025 15:16:01 +0000

A U.S. Senator wants to hold Microsoft accountable for building weak cybersecurity mechanisms in Windows that allow it to profit from hacks by selling secondary security services. Read more...

Fortnite maker confirms Epic Games Store launch on Play Store after Google loses appeal

David Uzondu — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 19:28:02 +0000

Google has lost its appeal, clearing the way for the Epic Games Store to launch on the Play Store, according to CEO Tim Sweeney. Read more...

OpenAI rubs salt in Google's wound, says it wants Chrome if Google's forced to sell

David Uzondu — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 06:58:01 +0000

As Google faces antitrust pressure, OpenAI, now a top competitor, has signaled interest in taking over Chrome. Read more...

Google faces £5 billion lawsuit in the UK for allegedly abusing search dominance

David Uzondu — Thu, 17 Apr 2025 08:34:01 +0000

Google can't seem to catch a break. It's now been sued in the UK for £5 billion over claims it abused its search to hike ad prices. Read more...

Japan hits Google with anti-monopoly accusations over Android phones

David Uzondu — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 16:18:01 +0000

Japan has slapped Google with an antitrust order over Android phones, accusing it of shutting out rivals in the search market. Read more...

Epic Games CEO blasts Apple and Google for “gangster-style” tactics

David Uzondu — Thu, 03 Apr 2025 07:16:01 +0000

Tim Sweeney recently slammed Google and Apple again, calling them "gangster-style" businesses, detailing how their practices hurt Epic Games. Read more...

Google says massive antitrust fines by EU "punished its attractiveness and innovation"

Karthik Mudaliar — Tue, 28 Jan 2025 16:52:01 +0000

Google is currently appealing a record €4.3 billion ($4.5 billion) antitrust fine imposed by the European Union, arguing that the penalty has negatively impacted its ability to innovate and compete. Read more...

Good news for farmers: The FTC has finally sued John Deere over "unfair practices"

David Uzondu — Wed, 15 Jan 2025 21:08:01 +0000

The FTC has finally taken action against one of the right to repair community's most notorious offenders, John Deere. Read more...

Google might be in trouble as it's being forced to sell a core part of its business

David Uzondu — Tue, 19 Nov 2024 04:56:01 +0000

The DOJ is pushing Google to sell off a key part of its business. Could this be the start of a major shift in the tech giant's future? Read more...

Meta scores major victory as FTC drops case against Within acquisition

Usama Jawad — Sun, 26 Feb 2023 07:58:01 +0000

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially dropped its lawsuit against Meta's acquisition of VR fitness company Within, in the first major loss for FTC commissioner Lina Khan. Read more...

Brazil becomes the latest country to approve Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard

Paul Hill — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 02:06:01 +0000

Brazil has approved Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard. The regulators said that even if Call of Duty becomes an Xbox exclusive, it would not pose a risk to competition. Read more...

UK's CMA provisionally clears NortonLifeLock's acquisition of Avast

Paul Hill — Wed, 03 Aug 2022 11:56:01 +0000

The UK's Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally given the go ahead of the acquisition of Avast by NortonLifeLock. It said the merger won't give the firm a monopoly position. Read more...

Meta slams FTC for blocking its acquisition of Within

Usama Jawad — Thu, 28 Jul 2022 06:42:02 +0000

Meta has responded to the FTC's lawsuit against its acquisition of VR fitness studio Within in strong words, saying that the regulator's claims are based on speculation and ideology, not evidence. Read more...

Lawsuit alleging Valve PC gaming monopoly picks up steam

Usama Jawad — Thu, 12 May 2022 15:16:02 +0000

A lawsuit regarding Valve's alleged monopoly over the PC gaming market has been allowed to move forward. The class-action says that Valve even retaliates against developers who sell outside of Steam. Read more...

Google is countersuing Epic Games with Apple's legal tactics

Karthik Mudaliar — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 15:56:01 +0000

Google is countersuing Epic Games arguing a "breach of contract", which is something the Judge agreed Epic had breached during its case against Apple when it activated hidden code. Read more...

Court: Epic Games breached contract but Apple must allow external payment methods

Usama Jawad — Fri, 10 Sep 2021 17:52:01 +0000

A court ruling in the Epic Games vs. Apple case states that the latter must allow external payment methods. Meanwhile, Epic Games has been ordered to pay over $3 million for breach of contract. Read more...

BlueMail's antitrust lawsuit against Apple is thrown out of the court for the third time

Usama Jawad — Tue, 13 Jul 2021 05:54:01 +0000

BlueMail developer Blix has frequently alleged that Apple unfairly suppresses the competition and has stolen its patented IP. However, its antitrust lawsuit has been thrown out of court yet again. Read more...

China is cracking down on monopolistic businesses, starting from tech giant Alibaba

Ather Fawaz — Thu, 24 Dec 2020 05:56:01 +0000

The Chinese Communist Party has launched an antitrust probe against Alibaba Group, Jack Ma's e-commerce and tech giant. The probe follows the government's recent crackdown on business monopolies. Read more...

United States DOJ sues Google for monopolistic practices

João Carrasqueira — Tue, 20 Oct 2020 15:46:01 +0000

The United States Department of Justice has moved forward with a lawsuit against Google, citing monopolistic behaviors that violate antitrust laws to maintain its dominance in the search market. Read more...

Russian antitrust authority finds Apple guilty of monopolistic behavior

Usama Jawad — Sat, 29 Aug 2020 07:36:01 +0000

A Russian antitrust authority has found Apple guilty of monopolistic behavior with its release of iOS 12 back in 2018, which apparently cut off access to some tools and APIs essential to developers. Read more...

Several Ubisoft titles soon landing on Google Stadia

Paul Hill — Fri, 13 Mar 2020 13:08:01 +0000

Ubisoft is set to launch three games on Google Stadia. The Crew 2 will launch in March and Monopoly will launch in April. No arrival date has been set for The Division 2 but it should be soon. Read more...

Qualcomm agrees to pay a largely reduced fine to Taiwan's Fair Trade Commission

João Carrasqueira — Fri, 10 Aug 2018 15:42:45 +0000

The American chipset maker has settled an ongoing dispute with the Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission, with both sides agreeing to a much smaller fine than the one imposed late last year. Read more...

Taiwan fines Qualcomm for $774 million in relation to monopoly abuse

Muhammad Jarir Kanji — Thu, 12 Oct 2017 13:16:01 +0000

The Taiwanese Fair Trade Commission found the silicon maker guilty of abusing its monopoly over smartphone modems in the country and has accordingly fined Qualcomm to the tune of $744 million. Read more...

FTC sues Qualcomm for bullying smartphone industry into using its products

Vlad Dudau — Wed, 18 Jan 2017 14:24:01 +0000

The FTC says the chip maker forced companies to use its baseband processors by punishing those that chose products from competitors with unfair patent licensing deals. Even Apple was a victim. Read more...

Apple App Store anti-trust lawsuit brought back from the dead

Joel Shedroff — Fri, 13 Jan 2017 23:16:01 +0000

The US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, overturning a prior decision, has ruled that a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging Apple's App Store constitutes a monopoly shall proceed. Read more...

Google's time to answer EU charges against its practices is almost up, despite 3 extensions

Vlad Dudau — Wed, 21 Sep 2016 10:40:01 +0000

Google is facing three distinct charges against it from the EU: Android abuse, unfair online shopping practices, and blocking ad competitors. The company only has a few weeks left to answer. Read more...

Russian court deals major blow to Google in anti-trust case regarding Android bundling

Adrian Potoroaca — Mon, 14 Mar 2016 19:02:01 +0000

The situation is getting worse for Google in a case regarding the company's anti-competitive practices in Russia, as a new court agrees with an earlier ruling that held Google guilty. Read more...

China gives Microsoft twenty days to respond to antitrust inquiry

Andy Weir — Mon, 01 Sep 2014 10:11:38 +0000

Chinese authorities looking into alleged antitrust violations by Microsoft have given the company twenty days to "make a written explanation" to questions and concerns raised by investigators. Read more...

Microsoft not ‘fully transparent' with sales data, say Chinese authorities

Andy Weir — Tue, 26 Aug 2014 06:29:32 +0000

As its antitrust investigation into Microsoft continues, China's State Administration for Industry and Commerce says the company has not been 'transparent' in disclosing data on its Chinese sales. Read more...

Microsoft office raid by Chinese authorities was about 'unfair trade'

Vlad Dudau — Tue, 29 Jul 2014 09:07:08 +0000

Yesterday's raid on Microsoft's offices by Chinese officials looks to be in regard to an antitrust investigation. The company is being investigated for possibly engaging in 'unfair trade'. Read more...

Microsoft's antitrust shackles taken off May 12

Tom Dwyer — Wed, 27 Apr 2011 23:14:32 +0000

Thirteen years ago, Microsoft were in an intense legal battle against the US government. The Redmond software giant was accused of using its dominant position in the operating systems market in order to gain large... Read more...

Monopoly and Google join forces for online game play

Brad Sams — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 12:26:53 +0000

The classic board game of Monopoly has been played for years in homes all over the world. But what if you could literally play Monopoly on the world against thousands of other players? The... Read more...

Microsoft preparing to release free anti-virus software

James Hall — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 12:55:49 +0000

According to Reuters, Microsoft is getting set to release free anti-virus software for Windows to compete with the likes of Symantec and McAfee. The software product, codenamed "Morro" after a beach in Sao Paulo,... Read more...

Google too 'small' to be a monopoly

James Hall — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 10:27:48 +0000

The Washington Post is reporting that Google has been trying to paint itself as too small to be a monopoly in order to fend off increasing moves by US government agencies and others to take... Read more...

Russian Satellites To Challenge America's GPS Monopoly

Fri, 06 Apr 2007 21:28:15 +0000

Russia's space agency is preparing to launch eight satellites that will nearly complete a system designed to compete directly, by 2009, with the existing global positioning system technology of the United States. GLONASS (Global Navigation... Read more...

Apple Sued for iPod Monopoly, Defective iBooks

Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:16:05 +0000

It seems that the stock scandal wasn't enough for Apple; the Associated Press is reporting that the company is facing several lawsuits. One of them, filed July 21, alleges that Apple is monopolizing the digital... Read more...

Citrix monopoly to end with 2X ApplicationServer v.4

Steven Parker — Tue, 10 Oct 2006 10:31:51 +0000

Up until now, investing in an application publishing solution such as Citrix was too costly for most companies. The release of 2X ApplicationServer v.4 is set to change this by providing a Citrix alternative at... Read more...

In trial, Microsoft denies using monopoly

Wed, 17 Mar 2004 17:50:24 +0000

Microsoft argued in a Minnesota court Tuesday that it never overcharged customers for software, denying charges in its first trial of a class-action suit that it abused its operating system monopoly to hike prices. ... Read more...