The Federal Trade Commission has begun an enquiry into whether Apple and Google's close ties are in violation of antitrust laws.
Google and Apple share two directors, Eric E. Schmidt, chief executive of Google, and Arthur Levinson, former chief executive of Genentech. According to the New York Times the Clayton Antitrust Act of 1914 prevents "a person’s presence on the board of two rival companies when it would reduce competition between them."
Despite the investigation taking place some "antitrust experts" say that the act is rarely enforced when companies share board members.
Apple and Google have in recent years become increasingly more competitive with each other, in particular Google's Android mobile phone operating system is a big competitor to the Apple iPhone; so much that Google's Eric Schmidt has been known to remove himself from iPhone related discussions at Apple meetings.