Google continues to find itself in hot water lately. Today, the company announced that Arthur Levinson has resigned from Google's board. Although neither Levinson nor Google revealed why Levinson is leaving, it comes at a time when Google is facing an ongoing FTC investigation into the search engine's board of directors' ties with Apple. Levinson, who has served on Google's board of directors for five years, also serves as a member of Apple's board of directors--a post he will continue to hold.
Previously, Google's CEO Eric Schmidt resigned from the Apple board. At issue is the Clayton Antitrust Act, a rule that says directors can't serve on the boards of competing companies. While Apple and Google today aren't direct competitors, the FTC cited concerns that the two could become competitors as they get a better foothold in the mobile phone market. Apple and Google have both built operating systems for handheld and mobile devices in addition to mobile voice and map applications, and mobile Web browsers.
Scrutiny has continued to swirl around Google lately. Last Friday, the FCC began an investigation on whether Google has the right to block certain calls to rural areas on its Google Voice service. The FCC's inquiry comes not long after AT&T filed a complaint saying that Google's blocking of calls is illegal.
For more:
- The Washington Post has this article
Related articles
Google Voice comes under FCC scrutiny
AT&T strikes out at Google Voice
Google snags IPTV executive
Grand Central becomes Google Voice