Vogel Internet, Information Technology and e-Discovery Blog : Texas Internet, Information Technology, eCommerce & E-Discovery Lawyer & Attorney Peter S. Vogel : Gardere Wynne Sewell Law Firm : Dallas TX

No surprise that Google’s search engine continues to grow at the expense of Yahoo! and Microsoft’s Bing. Hitwise now reports April 2010: Google at 71.4%, Yahoo! down 1% to to 14.96%, Bing down 2% to 9.43%, Ask down 37% to 2.18%, and the remaining 78 search engines accounted for 2.03%. As these search engine wars continue it seems pretty clear where we are headed. However antitrust issues are on the horizon!

EU confirms Google antitrust probe

The EU Commission confirmed that 3 complaints were filed and Google’s blog indicated that:

The complaints filed with the Commission came from U.K. price comparison site Foundem, a French legal search engine called eJustice.fr, and a German search site called Ciao that was recently acquired by Microsoft Corp. Google pointed out in its blog that Foundem is a member of a trade group called iComp, which is largely funded by Microsoft.

Given Bing decline it’s no wonder that Microsoft is pushing the EU to try to reduce Google’s control over the search engine market.

New Look: Google Search Engine Reults

To make Google even more user-friendly Google has evolved and morphed into a new look again. Check out Google’s new search engine results:

However, look closely since Google is now asking if users want Google to access to their location...privacy redflag if ever there be one!  Stay tuned for more Google in the market as Google dominates the search engine market and much more!

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

The recent conviction of 3 Google executives in Italy for a video posted on Google which showed the bullying of a disable teenager captured many headlines. No question that the video was in poor taste and Google took the video down within 24 hours of its posting after Google got 2 complaints. The conviction of the Google’s global privacy counsel, Peter Fleischer and two other executives raises significant issues. A fourth Google executive was acquitted, and Google plans to appeal these convictions. Does it make sense that Google, or any other ISP (Internet Service Provider), be liable for content posted over which the ISP has no control? The US Communications Decency Act of 1996 protects ISPs from liability since they have no control over content posted. How Google fares with these convictions may have an interesting impact on ISPs around the world.

Google Street View May Breach EU Law

Only to make things more complicated recent reports that the Google’s Street View violates EU Data Protection laws since they retain the images for too long. As well it was reported that “Switzerland’s data-protection agency in November sued Google for allegedly failing to comply with proposals to make it harder to identify people and cars on Street View.” Of course disputes regarding Street View are not new since claims of breach of privacy have been under way since at least 2008 in Japan.

Google has More EU Antitrust Problems

ComScore recently reported that Google has about 79% of the searches in the EU and the EU renewed its investigation about Google anticompetitive behavior. Google claims that Microsoft may be the source of the investigation since Microsoft owns one of the companies that complained. It seems reasonable to assume that the search engine wars will continue, but how the EU ultimately rules may have a far reaching impact.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments (1)
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

With a barrage of antitrust headlines it hard to know which one has the greatest impact on the Internet and IT community. But clearly New York’s antitrust filing against Intel in Delaware is near the top of the list. Why Delaware? Apparently NY is using the on-going Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) antitrust suit against Intel as a form of piling on, not to mention that AMD is building a new $4.2 billion plant in NY. NY’s antitrust claims are a lot like the EU antitrust findings that Intel’s business practice of paying computer manufacturers rebates and incentives for using Intel chips rather than those of AMD (or anyone else).

Oracle’s Plan to Acquire Sun Hit an EU Roadblock

Apparently the EU is not pleased that Oracle, the database market leader, intends to acquire Sun which owns the open source database product MySQL without selling off MySQL. The EU is concerned about Oracle’s competitors Microsoft and IBM even though Oracle is the dominant database company. But some think that Oracle’s acquisition of Sun and My SQL will be transformational to the IT industry by providing a different market against Microsoft.

Challenge to EU Browser Settlement

Google, Mozilla, and Opera are still concerned about the Microsoft settlement even though the EU approved Microsoft’s plan to allow customers a choice of browsers, not automatically only provide Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. Net Applications recent market share reports indicates that “Internet Explorer has a 67 percent share of the global browser market,... Firefox has 24 percent, Apple’s Safari, 4.4 percent, Google’s Chrome, 3.5 percent, and Opera, 2 percent.” On the surface it seems that Microsoft’s competitors should be able to increase their EU market share based on the settlement, but stay tuned to see how the EU reacts to these new complaints.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

No surprise that dozens of filings were made in opposition to the proposed settlement of the lawsuit between the Google and the Authors Guild and Association of American Publishers which was filed in “2005 by the authors and publishers against Google over its plan to digitize millions of books from libraries without authorization from rights holders.” Although Google has received the support of Sony, civil rights groups, and antitrust experts, there were notable opponents to the settlement including “individuals, rival companies like Amazon and Microsoft, advocacy organizations, groups representing authors and publishers and even some foreign governments.”

EU Opposition of Google’s Settlement

Many voices in the EU complained at a hearing that the proposed settlement would give Google more power to exclusive rights to sell million of out-of-print works even though the copyrights are still valid. Not much of a surprise that Microsoft is backing the anti-Google settlement groups in the EU. Many groups in the EU feel that since they did not participate in the settlement that they were discriminated against.

What’s Next in the Lawsuit?

Federal District Judge Denny Chin must now sort through the filings to try to determine if the proposed settlement properly protects the authors, or else the case may continue on to trial. Among other issues for Judge Chin to consider are antitrust concerns that Google’s control over these works would give Google too much market power. There are many antitrust issues on the horizon for Google it seems with many opponents, not just with books but more broadly in the entire space known as eCommerce. Stay tuned as we see Google and eCommerce evolve.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Apparently the US Justice Department is investigating anticompetitive behavior concerning among others Google, Yahoo! , and Apple since many Internet companies restrict recruiting and hiring of one another’s employees. Since anticompetitive employment agreements in the technology industry are the norm it’s particularly interesting that the Justice Department is pursuing these companies. Internet and IT companies rely of these non-competition provisions to protect trade secrets and Intellectual Property so it will be interesting to see how this develops.

EU Unhappy with Microsoft for Not Distributing a Browser

Following the antitrust dispute in the EU regarding Microsoft’s alleged monopolization of the browser market, Microsoft recently announced that when it distributes Windows 7 there not be any browser. The EU regulators are unhappy with this solution, even though on the surface it does seem that the complaining browser companies (Google, Mozilla, and Opera) should be pleased since they claimed that Microsoft’s embedded Internet Explorer violates antitrust laws.

Are Antitrust Laws Out of Touch with the Internet?

Since antitrust laws evolved from the need to try control monopolies in the 1800’s how much sense does it make to still use these concepts in the Internet world of 2009? Microsoft’s deployment of its operations systems took over the PC market was great for the users since before Microsoft there was no operating system standard on PCs. My Internet Third Big Bang was the 1981 advent of the PC, not just because IBM and Microsoft got into the market, but as result of the PC Clones using Microsoft operating systems a de facto standard developed on Microsof. As a result users could depend on continuity and consistency between software and applications. So maybe the US and EU should re-evaluate antitrust laws for the Internet and IT world that we live with today and in the future.

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks
• Share Link

Recent reports from the EU potentially impact a number of Internet and IT industry issues of great import, including plans for new laws to protect consumers from IT security breaches, Microsoft’s strategy to defend antitrust claims regarding the Internet Explorer (IE) browser, and a ruling that Intel violates antitrust laws.

EU Notice for Loss of Data

The EU plans to pursue new laws that would create more stringent reporting of IT security breaches, more like the US and Japan. Of course IT breaches are not a new topic in the IT community nor on this blog. However the new California law in 2003 requiring notice to consumers was a model that many states of have adopted, and citizens are clearly better off that they are notified of possible loss of their personal information.

Microsoft Browser Strategy

Recent blogs that Google, joined Mozilla and Opera complaining about Microsoft’s anticompetitive distribution of the IE browser is taking an interesting turn. Apparently Microsoft plans to argue in defense that restrictions on distribution of its IE will strengthen Google’s search-advertising market in an anticompetitive way. Apparently the EU estimates that 85% of the browsers in the EU are Microsoft’s IE, but if Microsoft has its way IE will continue to be distributed with Windows Operating Systems as it has since 1995.

Intel to Get an Adverse Ruling

The EU is expected to rule this week that Intel’s marketing in the EU violates antitrust laws, and Intel’s 81.9% market share is not because it has superior products. Rather the EU will rule that Intel has illegally handed out rebates and paid computer makers to delay products with rival chips.

EU Impact on IT

It’s probably about time that the EU enacted IT security breach laws to protect consumers like many US states. The EU is taking IT very seriously, and not reacting well to US IT companies’ market strategies that may be acceptable in the US. As more countries provide high speed Internet access to all citizens, countries around world will need to be even more vigilant to protect their citizens, by informing them of IT security breaches to protect personal identity and from anticompetitive behavior.

Since I see the Internet as the greatest social change in the history of humans (since there are no boundaries of time and geography), it seems reasonable that governments will only have a higher responsibility to protect citizens since we are all more and more reliant on the Internet and IT.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks (1)
• Share Link

Reports that the EU regulators have now formally accused Microsoft of antitrust charges for including Internet Explorer as part of the Windows operating system is hardly a surprise. Apparently in December 2007 the Opera Software the Norwegian browser developed filed a complaint with the EU that Microsoft violated EU antitrust laws. Opera’s 2007 complaint jump-started the EU’s Competition Commission and only a few months earlier Microsoft ceased appealing the EU’s 2004 antitrust violations related to the Media Player that included fines of $1.3 billion.

What Happens Next?

Microsoft has 8 weeks to respond to the EU why Internet Explorer should not be removed from the Windows operating system. But it seems clear that the EU wants Microsoft to change it marketing practices or risk more fines. Stay tuned for more rulings from the EU on these charges.

Historical Perspective

The Internet’s been around since the 1960’s as an academic research platform to help the space race in response to Russia launch of Sputnik in 1957. Until the browser was available the Internet was not user friendly. The Internet was a lot like MS-DOS before the advent of the mouse and GUI (graphic user interfaces) and using the Internet required users to know arcane and alien instructions. What changed the Internet and allowed it to take off was that Microsoft started giving away Internet Explorer with Windows in about 1995. Of course other browsers existed before 1995, but had it not been for Microsoft embedding Internet Explorer as part of Windows it is debatable whether the Internet would have taken off when it did and with such gusto.

Irony of Ironies

It seems ironic that Microsoft is now being penalized for including the Internet Explorer with Windows, since had Microsoft not embedded Internet Explorer with Windows in the mid 1990’s, the Internet may never had developed at the pace it has.
 

• Email This
• Print
• Comments
• Trackbacks (1)
• Share Link