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In recent months, two heavily detailed, annotated versions of
confidential Google slide presentations — one dealing with competition
issues, the other with behavioral targeting — have been published by a
Santa Monica–based group called Consumer Watchdog. The annotations are
highly critical of Google and seek to rebut the search giant’s
arguments.
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Three technology heavyweights are joining a coalition to fight Google’s
attempt to create what could be the world’s largest virtual library.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, the ACLU of Northern California and
the Consumer Watchdog advocacy group wrote to Google to ask the company
to "assure Americans that Google will maintain the security and freedom
that library patrons have long had: to read and learn about anything…
without worrying that someone is looking over their shoulder or could
retrace their steps".
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The Author’s Guild has urged
members to go along with a lawsuit settlement that would allow Google
to digitize millions of books from libraries and make them available in
its Book Search service. A prominent literary and talent agency has urged just the opposite. Meanwhile, the Department of Justice
currently has the settlement under review for possible violations of
antitrust laws. A federal court has extended the deadline to Sept. 4
for authors and publishers to opt out of the proposed agreement. The court has been inundated with proposed changes to the settlement,
including one filed by a group of California professors who suggest the
settlement isn’t fair to academic writers. Several groups, including The Internet Archive and Consumer
Watchdog, have also raised concerns about the issue to the Justice
Department in what many consider the literary flap of the century.
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The Federal Trade Commission says it will keep investigating the board memberships of Apple and Google despite Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s withdrawal from Apple’s board. Another boardroom interlock remains for the two companies: Genentech Chairman Arthur Levinson is on the board in both Mountain View and Cupertino. An E-Commerce Times request for response from Genentech regarding
Consumer Watchdog’s call for Levinson to step down from either Google’s
or Apple’s board was not received by press time. One point mentioned by Consumer Watchdog’s Simpson was Genetech’s
investment in 23andMe, the genetic-testing-for-consumers company
founded by Anne Wojcicki, wife of Google cofounder Sergey Brin.
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Calls for Genentech Inc.chairman Arthur Levinson to quit either the board of Apple Inc. or the board of Google Inc. are increasing, following on the heels of Monday’s news that Google CEO Eric Schmidt has stepped down from Apple’s board. Consumer Watchdog is a nonprofit, nonpartisan group that is also
pushing the U.S. Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission
to insist on guarantees of user privacy before agreeing to the 10-year
deal between Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo! Inc.
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John Simpson at the Consumer Watchdog, a non-profit organisation,
has applauded Mr. Schmidt’s move but at the same time criticised the
"clubby atmosphere" that prevails in Silicon Valley where everyone
seems to be on one another’s board.
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The resignation of Google’s Eric Schmidt as a director of Apple’s board
has failed to halt a government inquiry into possible antitrust
violations.
Mr. Schmidt stepped down because the search giant’s business increasingly competes with Apple’s. Former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson still serves on both boards. Consumer Watchdog has called for him to step down from either Google or Apple to avoid antitrust violations.
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Google CEO Eric Schmidt’s resignation today from Apple’s board underscored that it when comes to business, competition is thicker than friendship. Meanwhile, a consumer group, Consumer Watchdog, on Monday called on
Genentech Board Chairman Arthur Levinson, who sits on the boards of
Google and Apple, to quit one of them to avoid antitrust violations. In addition to conflicts that could arise from sitting on the boards of
competing companies, Genentech is an investor with Google in the
genetic testing company 23andMe run by Anne Wojcicki, wife of Google
co-founder Sergey Brin.
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Consumer Watchdog Wants Genentech Exec To Quit Google Or Apple Board
Consumer Watchdog, formerly known as the Foundation for Taxpayer and
Consumer Rights, called on former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson to pick one board or the other. ?It
took Eric Schmidt far too long to realize that the two roles are
incompatible. That’s not surprising considering the clubby atmosphere
of Silicon Valley,? said John M. Simpson, a Consumer Watchdog consumer
advocate, in a written statement. ?Nonetheless, we’re glad Schmidt
finally did the right thing. We call on Levinson to act responsibly and
choose one company or the other.?
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WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. Federal Trade Commission said it will
continue to investigate the relationship between the boards of Apple
Inc. and Google Inc., after Google’s chief, Eric Schmidt, quit Apple’s board on Monday. A consumer rights group criticized Schmidt for taking too long to leave
Apple’s board, and called on former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson to choose either Apple or Google. "Nonetheless, we’re glad Schmidt finally did the right thing," Consumer
Watchdog said in a statement. "We call on Levinson to act responsibly
and choose one company or the other."
