Google, Yahoo, Apple and other big high-tech firms are under investigation by the Justice Department for "negotiating the recruiting and hiring of one another's employees," according to the Washington Post.

That's collusion and a nasty antitrust problem for them if true.

The paper, which quotes an unnamed source and gives no details, calls the probe "industry-wide."

It's assumed the DOJ thinks they've swore off poaching each other's top talent.

The New York Times followed up and found that Justice Department subpoenas for documents and information called civil investigative demands or CIDs have been issued. It thinks the investigation is in its early days.

Google and Apple have already raised an antitrust eyebrow over their shared board members.