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Google Poised To Settle EU Anti-Trust Probe

Posted by samzenpus on from the working-it-out dept.

Rambo Tribble writes "Reuters is reporting that concessions by the Internet giant have paved the way for a resolution to the long-standing European Union investigation into Google's alleged anti-competitive practices. From the article: 'A settlement with the European Union's regulator would mean that Google, the world's biggest internet search engine, would escape a possible fine of as much as $5 billion or 10 percent of its 2012 revenue. Such an outcome would mirror the company's success in the United States last year where it received only a mild reprimand from the Federal Trade Commission, which said Google had not manipulated its website results following a 19-month investigation.'"

12 of 55 comments (clear)

  1. 10% of Revenue! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Clearly Google should get into a less risky business, like laundering money for drug cartels, if they are facing potential penalties of that magnitude...

    1. Re:10% of Revenue! by Opportunist · · Score: 5, Insightful

      They should rather open up an investment bank. If you fuck up there, you actually GET money from the government.

      --
      We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
    2. Re:10% of Revenue! by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Not only that, you get bailouts and get to bitch about the moral hazard of any aid to people who aren't you on the finance-fluffer TV networks. How's that for a sweet gig?

    3. Re:10% of Revenue! by SuricouRaven · · Score: 2

      And when the people start to hate you, you can write a column comparing them to the Nazis.

  2. Re:What will Marissa Meyer think of this? by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 4, Funny

    I assume that she's planning to reach a buggy, half-assed, and embarrassingly purple antitrust settlement with the EU a few months from now...

  3. Better idea by StripedCow · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The EU should increase funding of research into open search technologies.
    It is unacceptable that the world's searching and data-mining technology is for the better part originating from one country.
    (Yes, this means more projects like http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Q...)

    I'm still waiting for a P2P search engine that is efficient, secure, and returns useful results.

    --
    If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
    1. Re:Better idea by vikingpower · · Score: 2

      I'm still waiting for a P2P search engine that is efficient, secure, and returns useful results.

      So am I. So are many. Google is monolithic, and not to be trusted. Seriously: why don't we talk about creating a start-up ?

      --
      Religous speak to God. Insane are spoken to by God. When all shut up, one can finally hear Shostakovich in peace
    2. Re:Better idea by StripedCow · · Score: 2

      Seriously: why don't we talk about creating a start-up ?

      This could be a proposal for Kickstarter. It may be the first crowd-funded project that requires a significant amount of preliminary research though.

      --
      If Pandora's box is destined to be opened, *I* want to be the one to open it.
  4. Re:Tiresome by thaylin · · Score: 2

    Nice revisionist history buddy.. The problem was not that integrated it into the OS, but that they did so without allowing others to hook into those same hooks, and refused to let us, the consumers remove it. There were other FASTER browsers at the time, but you cannot compete with a monopoly who has hooked their stuff into their system. People WERE complaining, it was not like they just woke up one day and said "hmm I think I wanna target MS today for anticompetitive action"

    --
    When you cant win, ad hominem.
  5. Re:Tiresome by thaylin · · Score: 2

    Again no, it was not. IE was targeted because they took one artifical monopoly and used it to gain leverage in another market creating an even more artificial monopoly. The competition had better browsers on their own, but could not hook into the OS because MS would not allow it to allow them a lead. That is anticompetitive behavior.

    --
    When you cant win, ad hominem.
  6. Re:Tiresome by Sockatume · · Score: 2

    I don't think you understand any of the cases and accusations involved. The issue is not that someone dominated the market with a better product; the issue is that someone dominates the market with one superior product (Search, Windows) and then uses that dominant position to ensure the success of a whole bunch of inferior products, or simply the products their partners want to sell, thereby harming customers.

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    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?
  7. Re:Tiresome by Sockatume · · Score: 2

    How can you "build a better browser and they will come" when reliance on Internet Explorer is built into the operating system itself? I mean, Microsoft actually argued - this was their own defense! - that it was so fundamental to the operating system that you simply could not replace it with someone else' browser.

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    No kidding!!! What do you say at this point?