Politech: FC: Justice Department investigating airline web site for antitrust

[Declan McCullagh <declan () well com>]

[First it was Microsoft and Intel. Wasn't Cisco an antitrust target too? 
Then ebay (http://www.politechbot.com/p-00907.html) and a real estate web 
site (http://www.politechbot.com/cgi-bin/politech.cgi?name=realtors). Now 
an airline web site, reportedly (according to article below) in part 
because travel agents are upset. Wasn't it Bastiat who wrote that biting 
satire about candlemakers lobbying the French government to ban windows 
that let in sunshine? --Declan]
********
See related "Senators-ask-for-antitrust-probe" from May 3:
http://www.abcnews.go.com/sections/travel/DailyNews/AirlinePricing000503.html
********

http://www.zdnet.com/zdnn/stories/news/0,4586,2572457,00.html
DOJ probes new powerhouse airline site

'T2,' a joint venture funded by five U.S. airlines to sell tickets on the
Internet, is sending travel agents and smaller sites into a panic.

By Tim Dobbyn, Reuters
May 19, 2000 5:31 AM PT

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department said on Thursday it was investigating
a joint venture funded by five U.S. airlines to sell tickets on the Internet.

"The Department's antitrust division is investigating the joint venture
announced by certain major U.S. carriers to distribute airline tickets,"
said Justice Department spokeswoman Gina Talamona.

Still going by its "T2" planning name, the project is being developed by
Boston Consulting Group on behalf of equity partners -- UAL Corp.'s United
Airlines, Northwest Airlines Corp., Continental Airlines Inc., Delta Air
Lines Inc. and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines.

An additional 25 airlines have agreed to be affiliate members, offering
what T2 says will be the most comprehensive and unbiased source of travel
information on the Internet.

[...]

Travel agents and the dominant travel Web site, Travelocity.com, have 
expressed fears that T2 will reduce competition and cut them out of selling 
certain low fares.
The American Society of Travel Agents (ASTA), which had asked in February
for a probe of T2, welcomed the government investigation that was first
reported in USA Today.

[...]

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