News Clipping
Google Inc. has missed the deadline on its high-profile contract to take over Los Angeles’ e-mail system, leaving nearly 20,000 city employees on an aging system that the city is paying the Internet search giant $7.25 million to replace.
News Clipping
At the hearing, a consumer watchdog testified that he believed the White House was too cozy with Google, and the company’s lobbying interests. “I do think that Google specifically has perhaps too close a relationship with the government,” said John Simpson, director of the Stem Cell Project. “I think Mr. McLaughlin’s appointment is one of those ties that are inappropriate.”
Blog Post
Rep. Rick Boucher, D-Va, chairman of the Communications, Technology and the Internet Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee took a potshot at us this week. Folks at Consumer Watchdog have thick skins so we don’t really mind at all. I just figure you should have the context for the representative’s remarks.
News Clipping
“Is there some relationship between Google and the NSA (National Security Agency)?” asked Jamie Court, president of Consumer Watchdog, a nonprofit consumer advocacy group. “Was this data shared with intelligence agencies in America? It’s a question. We just want a straight answer.”
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC — Consumer Advocate John M. Simpson today repeated Consumer Watchdog’s call for Congressional hearings into the Google Wi-Spy scandal during testimony about federal agency use of Web 2.0 technology. The hearing was before the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census and National Archives of the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.
Blog Post
We haven’t yet persuaded the House Energy and Commerce Committee to convene a hearing on Google’s Wi-Spy snooping and its dealings with intelligence agencies, but I’m off to Washington to testify to another committee.
News Clipping
Consumer Watchdog, a group that has been critical of Google on multiple fronts, praised the state effort but again urged Congress to hold a hearing on the issue. “Just as the CEO of BP was asked to explain the Gulf oil spill to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, so should Google CEO Eric Schmidt be required to testify about the gross intrusion into consumers’ privacy,” John Simpson, the group’s consumer advocate, said in a statement.
News Clipping
This past quarter, Google spent $1.34 million on Washington lobbyists, an increase of 41% over last year’s spending during the same period. That brings the company’s lobbying money up to $2.72 million for the first half of 2010, according to Consumer Watchdog. With all that spending, who and what is Google trying to influence?
Press Release
Santa Monica, CA — Consumer Watchdog today praised a group of 37 state attorneys general for seeking to get to the bottom of the Google Wi-Spy scandal and reiterated its call for the House Energy and Commerce Committee to hold hearings on the issue.
Press Release
WASHINGTON, DC — Google spent $1.34 million trying to influence federal lawmakers and regulators in the second quarter of 2010, a 41 percent increase over $950,000 in the same period a year ago, Consumer Watchdog said today. Besides its willingness to spend, a key to Google’s lobbying effort is its well-connected Washington staff, most of whom have worked for Congress or the executive branch, said the nonpartisan, nonprofit public interest group.
