Archive | Tag: FTC

Press Release

Group Also Releases 3rd Round Of Annotated Google Documents In ‘Charmwatch’ Campaign

SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog today slammed Google for its
apparent hypocrisy in marketing its new "cloud computing" products,
blandly assuring customers that their data is secure on Google Internet
servers but at the same time warning shareholders of the security risks
posed by swift expansion of its commercial online business. The
nonpartisan, nonprofit group sent a letter to a Los Angeles City
Councilman showing that Google says one thing when trying to sell its
products, but something else in federally required filings aimed at
shareholders. Consumer Watchdog also released another round of
annotated Google P.R. documents in its Google “Charmwatch” campaign.  

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News Clipping

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Genentech chairman Arthur Levinson has resigned from
the board of directors of Google amid a probe by US authorities into
his membership of the boards of both the Internet giant and Apple. Advocacy group Consumer Watchdog also welcomed Levinson’s resignation, saying he had "acted correctly" in stepping down. "We’re
pleased that Arthur Levinson finally realized that serving on both
Google’s and Apple’s boards was untenable," said John Simpson of
Consumer Watchdog. "It took too long, but he finally did the right
thing."
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News Clipping

Concerns Over Class Action, Copyright, Antitrust Law

The DoJ was also praised by the consumer watchdog known as Consumer
Watchdog, a notorious thorn in Google’s side. But the watchdog argues
that even if the DoJ’s concerns are alleviated, the court should reject
the settlement. "Solving the antitrust problem is only [part] of the
problem,” said Consumer Watchdog’s John Simpson.

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Press Release

SANTA MONICA, CA — Consumer Watchdog praised the U.S. Justice
Department for objecting to the proposed Google Books settlement in a
brief the department filed in U.S. District Court tonight. The nonpartisan, nonprofit consumer group had asked the Justice
Department to intervene in the case on antitrust grounds last April.
Justice announced it was investigating in July. Justice’s objections
tonight went beyond antitrust concerns.

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Google’s proposed book settlement with book authors and publishers, allowing the company to digitize and sell millions of books, makes a "mockery" of copyright protections in the U.S. Constitution, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office said Thursday. The settlement would give Google an "unlawful and inappropriate"
monopoly and strips away the rights of copyright holders worldwide,
added John Simpson, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog.
"The deal simply furthers the relatively narrow agenda of Google, the
Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers," he said.

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Press Release

Brief Argues Books Settlement Violates Both U.S. And International Copyright Law, Is Anticompetitive

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Consumer Watchdog today filed a brief urging a
federal court to reject the proposed Google Books settlement because it
is anticompetitive and violates both U.S. and international law.
 Separately, the consumer group called a Books privacy policy Google
offered late last week inadequate.

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News Clipping

A group of ten consumer groups on Tuesday called on Congress to enact
meaningful privacy legislation, and slammed industry efforts as totally
inadequate. The groups are most concerned about behavioral tracking, a technique
used by Internet companies to serve up more targeted ads or results
based on your Web
browsing activities. Are you searching for information on Paris? You
might see ads on the right-hand bar for travel deals or hotels, or
links to blog posts about the French city.

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News Clipping

Search engines such as Google, Yahoo and Microsoft employ behavioral
targeting, in which cookies collect information on users’ Web browsing
habits, to better tailor online ad campaigns for Web surfing consumers.
This practice doesn’t sit well with consumer and privacy advocates,
which urged Congress to crack down on behavioral targeting and asked
the Federal Trade Commission to set up a registry to help users opt out
of such practices.

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