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Google Found Guilty of "Abusing Dominant Market Position" In Russia

Posted by samzenpus on from the rigged-game dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Russia's anti-monopoly regulator has ruled that Google has violated Russian antitrust laws by requiring that manufacturers pre-install its services on their devices. Stock in Russian search firm Yandex has soared since the ruling. Cnet reports: "The agency, Russia's Federal Antimonopoly Service, has 10 days to issue a full ruling. In the ruling, Russia can outline adjustments to Google's agreements with mobile device manufacturers, according to the translated statement. But while Google was found guilty of market abuses, a Russian antitrust regulator told The Wall Street Journal the Mountain View, California-based company wasn't found guilty of 'unfair competition practices.' 'We haven't yet received the ruling,' a Google spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. 'When we do, we will study it and determine our next steps.'"

15 of 126 comments (clear)

  1. Three guesses... by Chris+Mattern · · Score: 4, Insightful

    ...who the owner of "Yandex" is closely affiliated with, and the first two don't count.

    1. Re: Three guesses... by rahvin112 · · Score: 4, Informative

      Yes they are more popular and they have special connections in the Kremlin which is where this decision comes from. What they want is for the government to force Goolge to let them install some of Google's applications that they don't have equivalents for while allowing them to replace what they can. I would suggest Google tell them to go fuck themselves and in the process Android disappears from Russia and Yandex is destroyed.

      See that's the kicker in this whole thing, Yandex is entirely dependent on Google to provide the OS, update it and provide the store. They want to replace certain parts with their apps. But Google does not allow their software to be loaded unless ALL of it is loaded and frankly there isn't a thing wrong with that. Android is free to use and Yandex can take it and do whatever they want with it. But that would mean hiring developers and engineers and doing the real heavy lifting that Google does and it would mean forgoing the Google servers entirely, including Google play.

      Yandex wants the best of both worlds. One where they can utilize Googles software but replace all the profitable bits with their own. Basically a world where Google subsidizes them. Good luck with that. I doubt Russia is even a top 10 market for Google and they'd rather walk away from the market than empower a competitor. Then all the Russians will have left is Apple and Blackberry and Yandex will be proper fucked. I suspect this will work out as well as it did for the Spanish news publishers when Google just pulled out of the market rather than support their competitors.

      All these companies just keep trying to slay the golden goose.

    2. Re: Three guesses... by Luckyo · · Score: 2

      That would mean google would have to withdraw everywhere except US and some third world countries that don't yet have anti-trust legislation.

      Which would basically destroy google, while letting numerous competitors take the void it leaves behind.

  2. The simple solution... by WegianWarrior · · Score: 2

    ...would be for Google to stop marketing and selling android phones in Russia. What Russian companies choose to import from abroad is of no consequence for Google.

    Speaking hypothetically; how many here believe that the Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service would have taken a similar action if a Russian company with ties to the Russian oligarchs did the same thing that Google is accused of? Anyone?

    This is just one more step in the Russian regimes current plan to control what Russians can do and see on the decadent Western Internet. It's no secret that Putin and his cohort is afraid to loose the ability to control the flow of information in Russia, and thus control what the average Russian believe. The Kremlin fears a possible colour revolution, and a bit of digging shows that they blame Internet sites (easily available on cheap android phones) outside of Russia for kindling that kind of unrest.

    --
    Everything in the world is controlled by a small, evil group to which, unfortunately, no one you know belongs.
    1. Re:The simple solution... by FranTaylor · · Score: 2

      Once you realize how corrupt Russia is

      you realize that humans are pretty much the same wherever you go

  3. Re:So... by pushing-robot · · Score: 2

    Apple makes it a point to stick to the high end where they can dominate profits without dominating markets (and all the regulations that comes with that).

    While I'm sure this case was purely political, the verdict is arguably valid. Microsoft got in far more trouble over IE, which was nothing compared to the level of Google bundling in stock Android.

    Of course, a lot has changed since 2001 and it's hard to imagine unbundling Google services from popular Android devices. Amazon is the only company I can think of that offers services for Android anything close to Google's, maybe this could be a win for them.

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
  4. Google Found Guilty of Being an American Company by dlleigh · · Score: 4, Funny

    There, I fixed the headline to be more accurate.

  5. Looks like somebody forgot to budget... by NickAragua · · Score: 2, Informative

    ... for appropriate bribery.

  6. Broke the law of bribery by Etherwalk · · Score: 3, Informative

    1) Micky Mouse
    2) your mom
    3) Someone from Russia. (The country whose laws Google broke.)

    You're assuming they broke the law. It's antitrust, which means there's so much wiggle room in it the judges can decide whatever they want. And it's Russia, so everything is about who bribed whom.

    There's a lot of competition in the Smartphone O/S space. While every operator builds something of its own structural monopoly, you can still pick a windows phone or an apple phone or even a blackberry.

    So antitrust complaints against google are pretty much bullshit.

    1. Re:Broke the law of bribery by aralin · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The hypocrisy is astounding. You think that somehow the US kangaroo courts are any more just? Microsoft was even convicted of crimes and after much political pressure and bribes escaped with slap on the wrist. Probably also bullshit verdict, since it was under antitrust laws that have so much wiggle room? You really think there is any justice in US courts? Think again.

      --
      If programs would be read like poetry, most programmers would be Vogons.
    2. Re:Broke the law of bribery by TsuruchiBrian · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You think that somehow the US kangaroo courts are any more just?

      Exactly. The kangaroo courts in Russia are definitely less just than US kangaroo courts. Just like how we have corruption in the US, and it is that much less than the corruption in Russia.

      The difference between the corruption of the USA and Russia is like the difference in the destructive power of a tomahawk missile and a nuclear bomb. Yes they are both very destructive, but one is many orders of magnitude more destructive.

    3. Re:Broke the law of bribery by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      You're assuming they broke the law. It's antitrust, which means there's so much wiggle room in it the judges can decide whatever they want. And it's Russia, so everything is about who bribed whom.

      Whereas in America they just call a bribe a "campaign donation" and it's all legal.

    4. Re:Broke the law of bribery by Vokkyt · · Score: 2

      A kangaroo court is inherently unjust. There isn't one that is any less than the other, unless you're willing to say that some types of unfairness in the court are okay but others are not. Arguably, due to the way the corruption is open to the general public and not just the wealthy (as is the case in the US), the russian courts are more fair since everyone legitimately has the option to pay their way out. This is not condoning bribery, but we shouldn't point to someone else's shit to cover up the stink of our own.

  7. Re:Mockery of a trial... by x0ra · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes, my argument is just that the EU will use the argument even if it comes from Russia. It is not looking for a fair trial, but for justification to issue the fine. This is the same argument than Internet censorship, where some French politician had the beautiful argument "China's has done it.".

  8. Re:Russia is dumb by SuricouRaven · · Score: 3, Informative

    Russia has banned food imports from the EU. They siezed a load a few months ago and put on a big public show on national TV of destroying it as an illegal import. The official line is that they couldn't trust in the safety of the illegally imported cheese because smugglers might not refrigerate it properly or keep the correct paperwork to track origin, but no-one buys that excuse, so there are some level of quiet muttering in Russia about the incident - mostly because, thanks to the food import ban, food prices have shot up at a time when their economy is already seriously struggling.