Canada Draws a Bead on Google – Yahoo
October 1, 2008
Marketwatch reported on September 29, 2008, in “Kent Hiring Hints at Threat for Yahoo Google Deal” here. John Letzing’s well written story runs down the various legal initiatives under way to squash the Google – Yahoo tie up. For me, the most important part of the story is this passage:
David Kent, a litigator and antitrust expert in private practice with Toronto-based McMillan LLP, acknowledged Monday that he has been retained by the Canadian Department of Justice to review the proposed partnership between Yahoo and Google. He also declined any further comment.
Google’s attorneys will face a busy fall and winter because Mr. Kent is a high-profile litigator likely to challenge the Googley crew. As I pointed out in my 2005 The Google Legacy and my 2007 Google Version 2.0, Google could be crippled by litigation. In my opinion, I think it may be difficult to convince some advertisers that online advertising alternatives exist. Google has been largely ignored for years. Now one business sector is realizing that Google operates in a different zone from traditional competitors. The law is unfamiliar with Google’s meta-methods and will have to do some fast work to reign in the Goggle juggernaut. The problem is that lawyers and fast action are somewhat incompatible.
Could these actions boil down to “Lingua factiosi, inertes opera” as Plautus said. (If you don’t recall your high school Latin, that’s roughly “All talk and no action.”
Stephen Arnold, October 1, 2008
Comments
-
- Subscribe to Beyond Search
Feature archive
News archive
-
