[596] in Privacy_Forum
[ PRIVACY Forum ] Microsoft admits trying to influence EU regulators
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (privacy@vortex.com)
Sat Feb 27 15:14:35 2010
Date: Sat, 27 Feb 2010 11:48:09 -0800
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Microsoft admits trying to influence EU regulators in Google
anti-trust reviews -- says "So what?"
( http://www.nnsquad.org/archives/nnsquad/msg02945.html )
Reference: http://bit.ly/ddHd8b (Search Engine Land)
There are numerous flaws in attempting to equate Microsoft's anti-trust
woes with Google's current situation.
Chief among them is that Microsoft used repressive and anticompetitive
tactics in its march to PC and browser domination.
Google's rise in market share has been tied to a basic concept --
they've simply provided better products that more people want to use.
Being big or even dominant when you've grown by playing fair and by
the rules isn't a crime. It's when anticompetitive behavior is
involved that the alarms go off. Microsoft attempted to effectively
lock competitors out of the market through draconian licensing
agreements and other means. On the other hand, Google's competitors
have always been -- and still are -- only a mouse click away for
virtually any user anywhere in the world.
And despite some critics' claims to the contrary, it's clear that
Google goes to great lengths to try keep their organic search results
as algorithmically "clean" and undistorted as possible. Is this
process perfect? Of course not -- there's a continual stream of
tweaks to the search rankings algorithms behind the scenes, but a
laudable avoidance of modifying specific, individual search results
rankings. As far as I can tell, the purported claims of unfair bias
in Google natural search results are nothing but sour grapes.
--Lauren--
Lauren Weinstein
lauren@vortex.com
Tel: +1 (818) 225-2800
http://www.pfir.org/lauren
Co-Founder, PFIR
- People For Internet Responsibility - http://www.pfir.org
Co-Founder, NNSquad
- Network Neutrality Squad - http://www.nnsquad.org
Founder, GCTIP - Global Coalition
for Transparent Internet Performance - http://www.gctip.org
Founder, PRIVACY Forum - http://www.vortex.com
Member, ACM Committee on Computers and Public Policy
Lauren's Blog: http://lauren.vortex.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/laurenweinstein
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