Tag Archive | "mobile"
Consumer Groups Lobby FTC To Block Google’s Acquisition Of AdMob
Google recently revealed that the Federal Trade Commission was intensely reviewing the search giant's recent $750 million acquisition of mobile ad network AdMob. Last week, Google said the FTC has made a second request for further information about the deal. Today, two consumer groups, Consumer Watchdog and the Center For Digital Democracy, have asked the FTC to block the deal on anti-trust grounds and possible privacy issues.
Continue reading...Can Google Be Trusted? No: The Search Engine Must Do More To Protect Private Data
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Few doubt that Internet giant Google is succeeding in its audacious corporate mission "to organize the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful." The problem is that the mission puts Google directly at odds with our privacy rights, and Google appears unwilling to give consumers enough control.
Continue reading...Microsoft’s Sidekick Debacle Brings Much-Hyped ‘Cloud’ Back To Earth
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
In a letter last week to City Councilman Bernard C. Parks, John Simpson of advocacy group Consumer Watchdog noted the stark language Google uses to describe the many things that could go wrong with its cloud-based systems.
Continue reading...OK, You Get Custody Of Art And Al, But They Spend Alternate Weekends With Us
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
If Apple and Google were hoping that a Schmidt-ectomy would satisfy the FTC’s concerns over their board-level connections, they were wrong. While the agency pronounced itself...
Continue reading...Schmidt And Jobs Part Company
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
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.
Continue reading...Google And Apple Not Off The Hook
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
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.
Continue reading...Google CEO Eric Schmidt Resigns From Apple’s Board
Monday, August 3, 2009
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.
Continue reading...U.S. FTC To Press On With Apple-Google Board Probe
Monday, August 3, 2009
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."
Continue reading...Consumer Watchdog Calls On Genetech Exec To Quit Either Google Or Apple Board
Monday, August 3, 2009
Santa Monica, CA -- Genentech Board Chairman Arthur D. Levinson should quit as a director of either Internet giant Google or Apple to avoid antitrust violations, Consumer Watchdog said today, following the resignation of Eric Schmidt from the Apple board. The call from the nonprofit, nonpartisan consumer group came after the announcement that Google Chairman and Chief Executive Eric Schmidt, who held the same dual role, was stepping down from Apple’s board. The Federal Trade Commission has been investigating for several months whether Apple and Google had violated antitrust laws by sharing two directors.
Continue reading...Microsoft-Yahoo Deal Faces Moderate Antitrust Scrutiny, Say Experts
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Microsoft and Yahoo finally tied the knot, but they signed an expansive pre-nup to limit antitrust scrutiny. Vocal Google critic Consumer Watchdog didn't denounce the deal outright, noting that "some have suggested" that the tie-up may increase competition against Google. But the Microsoft-Yahoo deal is a chance for regulators to "set to the gold standard for privacy guarantees by Internet companies and for the government to use its leverage to obtain it," it said. Consumer Watchdog's John Simpson said the FTC should take a strong lead on privacy matters. "If the result of this deal is that there are two stronger Internet search enterprises who exploit users' data at the expense of their privacy rights, consumers are worse off, not better," he said. "Justice and the FTC can -- and must -- insist on this."
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Monday, December 28, 2009
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