News Clipping
Consumer Watchdog plans to deploy a group of mimes wearing white track suits emblazoned with Google’s “Don’t Be Evil” motto Wednesday, just as Google Chairman Eric Schmidt is set to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee. The mimes will mercilessly track senators and their staffers as they move through the Dirksen Senate office building..
Press Release
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Consumer Watchdog’s latest online animated video debuted today, satirizing Google CEO Larry Page and Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt to dramatize Google’s information monopoly and make the case for Do Not Track Legislation. The video, “Supercharge,” exposes actual quotes by the executives and shows the two Google executives stalking a United States Senator through the signal in his Android mobile phone.
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While there are plenty of groups worried about Internet privacy, few have gone to the lengths of Consumer Watchdog, which relishes its role as a thorn in Google’s side. In addition to the videos, the group has sponsored conferences, written editorials, and taken out ads, all aimed at focusing a spotlight on Google’s conduct. Its primary concern is that Google is gathering a huge trove of personal information, much of it without consumers’ knowledge. Worse still, according to the group, is that consumers are powerless to stop it. Consumer Watchdog’s Court refers to the data that Google is able to amass as “an information monopoly.”
Blog Post
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…
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“This is exactly why Google is on the hot seat for antitrust,” said Consumer Watchdog President Jamie Court, an activist and frequent thorn in Google side. “This is when the search engine becomes the find engine.”
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John Simpson, spokesman for the non-profit Consumer Watchdog advocacy group says “the Europeans have exactly the right approach. They are asking that a consumer must be given the right to opt in before a cookie is placed.” Simpson says the IAB’s icon alert mechanism is “mostly window dressing.” He says if European regulators do end up imposing a strict opt-in rule across Europe, Google, Facebook and the other data aggregators and ad networks will be forced to comply to do business in Europe.
Press Release
Group Cites DOJ Investigation That Found He Condoned Illegal Activity
SANTA MONICA, CA – Citing recent revelations that Google CEO Larry Page condoned Google’s criminal violation of laws prohibiting the importation of drugs to U.S. consumers by Canadian pharmacies, Consumer Watchdog called on the Senate Antitrust Subcommittee to require him to testify at its planned hearing in September.
Blog Post
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.
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC — Consumer Watchdog said that the self-regulatory privacy program created by online advertisers and scheduled to take effect for some today fails to protect consumers from companies that track their behavior online. Legislation enacting a “Do Not Track Me” option is necessary to ensure consumers have an easy to use, effective and universal choice to avoid tracking, said Consumer Watchdog.
News Clipping
Google has agreed to a US$500 million settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice for allowing online Canadian pharmacies to place ads through its AdWords program targeting consumers in the United States.
