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FTC Will Probe Google’s Search Update
Posted by John M. Simpson
Google’s latest change to its search engine, dubbed “Search plus Your World” apparently has drawn the scrutiny of the Federal Trade Commission because of antitrust concerns, according to Bloomberg News.
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Senators Call for Google Antitrust Probe
Posted by John M. Simpson
19. December 2011
The top Senators on the Judiciary Committee’s Antitrust Subcommittee are expressing concern to the Federal Trade Commission over Google’s business practices and the Internet giant’s impact on competition in Internet search and commerce.
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Google’s Sad LA Saga Draws To A Close
Posted by John M. Simpson
13. December 2011
Google’s sad saga of missed deadlines and unfulfilled promises in attempting to provide the City of Los Angeles with a “cloud” based email and collaboration system appears to be drawing to a close.
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You can read ‘CQ Researcher’ in-depth report on Google’s dominance
Posted by John M. Simpson
23. November 2011
The Prestigious CQ Researcher has recently tackled the issue of Google’s dominance, asking the question: “Is the online-search giant too powerful?” See below for information about how you can read the entire online version of this important study. In a half-page opinion piece in the 24-page report, I square off with Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt [...]
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Pushing for online privacy on the East and West Coasts
Posted by John M. Simpson
4. November 2011
The week began for me at meetings in the heart of geekdom in Silicon Valley and concluded with consumer and privacy advocates meeting in New York City. The two sessions are more related than you might first think. The New York meetings, convened by the Consumer Federation of America, were an off-the-record session for consumer [...]
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Google faces IRS scrutiny for avoiding taxes
Posted by John M. Simpson
13. October 2011
Remember the “Double Irish” and the “Dutch Sandwich?” Those are the nicknames for the schemes that Google uses to dodge about $1 billion a year in U.S. taxes by running profits through offshore subsidiaries and stashing the cash in tax havens like Bermuda. Bloomberg Reporter Jesse Drucker originally revealed a year ago how the dubious [...]
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Google’s Monopoly Power Raises More Concerns
Posted by John M. Simpson
9. September 2011
More examples of Google’s powerful grip on the Internet surfaced this week and its acquisition of the venerable restaurant reviewer, Zagat, raised new concern about how the Internet giant will use its monopoly power in the future. Being a monopoly is not in itself illegal. If you developed the position naturally without breaking any laws, [...]
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Prosecutor says Larry Page knew Google was breaking the law
Posted by John M. Simpson
29. August 2011
It became clear over the weekend why Google agreed to a whopping $500 million settlement with the Justice Department to end criminal charges that it aided in the sale of illegal drugs from Canada. Co-founder and CEO Larry Page knew that the Internet giant was breaking the law.
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FTC ‘carefully monitoring’ online tracking
Posted by John M. Simpson
19. August 2011
I just received an encouraging letter from the Federal Trade Commission assuring me that its Division of Privacy and Identity Protection is “carefully monitoring the privacy issues associated with online tracking.” The letter, from Maneesha Mithal, the division’s Associate Director, was in response to our recent complaint about companies who said they would not track [...]
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Does Google-Motorola Pose Anti-Competitive Danger?
Posted by Jamie Court
15. August 2011
What if Google, the master of the cloud computing universe and the Internet’s information monopolist, were to buy Intel, Apple, or IBM? Would we want the company that controls information outside of our computers all along the Internet to also have control over a principal computer hardware maker and its patents?
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We need a right to be forgotten
Posted by John M. Simpson
12. August 2011
I remember as a young newspaper reporter going to different jurisdictions where public records were kept and putting together background information on an individual. I had to have a compelling reason to do it, because although the records were public, it took considerable effort to gather the information. With the Internet and the advent of [...]
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Is Google adding a default security setting?
Posted by John M. Simpson
9. August 2011
One of the dangers of using public Wi-Fi networks at coffee shops and the like is that anybody else on the network can read your email, Facebook postings, search requests and easily hack into your account unless the data is encrypted. The most common is SSL encryption using the HTTPS protocol. If you use it, [...]
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Should you believe what Eric Schmidt says or what Google does?
Posted by John M. Simpson
25. July 2011
Actions speak louder than words. That’s why I’m not putting much stock in what Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt says anymore.
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Consumer Watchdog’s Carmen Balber discusses Internet privacy and the need for an online “Do Not Track Me” list.
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