Google and the US Justice Department are close to an agreement that would clear the search giant's USD 700 million acquisition of flight-data company ITA Software in return for granting federal regulators authority to monitor a part of its operations, people familiar with the matter told the Wall Street Journal. The proposed agreement would for the first time allow government antitrust monitoring of a part of Google's operations to assure that the company doesn't unfairly use its control of ITA's airline data to put rivals at a disadvantage. Spokespeople for Google, ITA and the Justice Department declined to comment. Google had promised it wouldn't shut out competitors from striking deals for ITA's services, but hadn't specified terms. The settlement would introduce a compulsory licensing system, monitored by the government.
