Archive | Tag: going to court

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A watchdog group is calling on seven senators not
to attend an event at Google’s headquarters that the organization says
is a fundraiser masquerading as a policy conference. Consumer Watchdog
sent a letter
Wednesday
to the seven Democratic senators set to participate in the National
Innovation Conference Friday and Saturday sponsored by the Democratic
Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) at Google’s headquarters in
Mountain View, Calif. Those listed as attending include: Senators Mark
Begich, D-Alaska, Jeff Bingaman, D-N.M., Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., Tom
Carper, D-Del., Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., and
Mark Warner, D-Va., as well as President Obama’s pollster, Joel
Benenson, according to a DSCC brochure obtained by Consumer Watchdog.

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Press Release

Public Policy Should Be Decided In Hearing Room With Sunlight And Transparency, Group Says

SANTA MONICA, CA — Warning that a Democratic Senate Campaign Committee
Fundraiser scheduled to be held at Google’s headquarters in Mountain
View, CA, on Friday created an appearance of a conflict of interest,
Consumer Watchdog  called on the seven Senators scheduled to appear not
to attend.

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For Big Bird’s birthday, the Sesame Street icon’s feet replaced the L in Google’s search logo. Is Google pressing Big Bird into the service of its charm offensive?
      
Critics say its corporate motto of
“Don’t be evil” is a smoke screen for invasive procedures that are
stripping away privacy (like scanning your gmail account for keywords
to create targeted advertising). “I love Google. But I also fear Google,” says Jamie Court, president of
Consumer Watchdog. “It’s made finding information remarkably easy, but
I’m not under any illusion that that’s a free lunch. And most Internet
users have had their eyes opened recently to the fact that they are
being tracked and they don’t have a way of stopping that.”

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News Clipping

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Critics of Google’s deal with an authors’ group to put millions of books online have asked for a delay in a hearing set to consider the settlement in a court filing on Thursday. A long list of critics of the deal, including Yahoo, Amazon, Microsoft, the National Writers Union, Consumer Watchdog and singer Arlo Guthrie, argued on Thursday that the original class action settlement was long and complex and any changes would only add to its complexity

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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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$125 Million Pact ‘Raises Significant Issues’

"Clearly, voices such as ours had an impact on Judge Chin," says John
Simpson, of the consumer watchdog known as Consumer Watchdog, one of
the many organizations opposed to the deal. "There was no way the
proposed settlement could go forward. Consumer Watchdog is pleased
there will be a status hearing on the case on Oct. 7." Like the Open Book Alliance – a group that includes the Internet
Archive, Microsoft, and Amazon – Consumer Watchdog advocates solving
the ebook copyright issue with federal legislation. "We believe that will demonstrate that the proper place to solve many
of the case’s thorniest problems, such as that of orphan books, is in
Congress," Simpson says. "Consumer Watchdog urges Congress to act
expeditiously because it is important to build digital libraries."

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A New York judge has put Google’s vision of creating the world’s biggest digital library on hold.

Microsoft, Amazon and Yahoo have filed objections to
the settlement with the court, along with the French and German
governments, privacy advocates and consumer watchdog groups. "Clearly voices such as ours had an impact on Judge
Chin," wrote consumer watchdog advocate John Simpson in an email to BBC
News. "There was no way the proposed settlement could go
forward. We believe that the proper place to solve many of the case’s
thorniest problems, such as that of orphan books, is in Congress
because it is important to build digital libraries."

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John
M. Simpson, a consumer advocate with Consumer Watchdog who testified
about the deal before the House Judiciary Committee, said any agreement
should also involve input from Congress. He said the agreement as it now stands would have given Google a monopoly over the digitizing of books. "The judge put his fingers exactly on the issues in the case," Simpson said.

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News Clipping

The Author’s Guild and Association of American Publishers in the Google Book Search settlement asked District Court Judge Denny Chin to postpone his fairness hearing on the deal so they can work with Google and the Department of Justice on amending the agreement. Consumer advocacy group Consumer Watchdog further suggested that
important issues affecting copyright law should not be negotiated
behind closed doors.

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News Clipping

Two groups ask a federal judge for more time to address new issues in a settlement covering the firm’s digital library project. A hearing is set for Oct. 7, but they want it moved to Nov. 6.
 
Consumer Watchdog, an advocacy group in Santa Monica, objected to the
"closed-door" nature of the negotiations with the Justice Department. "Key copyright issues must be settled by Congress in a fully public process," said John Simpson, a Consumer Watchdog spokesman.

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