- Microsoft found out about a new FTC investigation the same way as rest of us - by watching the news
- The company is still waiting on formal legal action from the Commission
- Microsoft is asking the FTC to investigate itself
Microsoft has expressed its frustration about a recently revealed FTC investigation because it was never actually informed about the probe – the tech giant only found out about the organization's plans after reading the news.
Consequentially, Microsoft’s Deputy General Counsel Rima Alaily has asked the FTC Inspector General to, “investigate whether FTC management improperly leaked confidential information about a potential antitrust investigation last week in violation of the agency’s ethics rules and rules of practice.”
The letter, shared publicly on Alaily’s LinkedIn, argues that the company only found out about the probe via Bloomberg’s coverage.
Microsoft asks FTC to investigate… itself?
The letter alleges the FTC has “opened an antitrust investigation” spanning “cloud computing and software licensing bundles to cybersecurity offerings and artificial intelligence products,” however it’s still unclear where this information came from.
Alaily argues: “Ironically, almost a week after telling the press about an information demand issued to Microsoft, we still cannot even obtain from the FTC a copy of this document.”
Apart from the most recent leak of information, Microsoft slated the FTC for what the Commission itself calls a “steadily increasing” number of unauthorized disclosures, something that members of the US Senate and the US House of Representatives have also noted.
Clearly unhappy with how it learned about the FTC’s information demand “like the rest of the world” – via the Bloomberg story – Microsoft claims it still has not received any formal legal process.
The letter concludes: “While this leak is an unfortunate development for Microsoft, it is more problematic for the integrity of the FTC’s processes.”
The Deputy General Counsel has also urged the FTC to share the findings of its investigation publicly and to hold itself accountable for any leakage.
The FTC declined to comment.
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