Alphabet Google and Its Brief Response to the EU

November 5, 2015

Alphabet Googlers like messages short. Heck, even the Gmail system will display three brief responses to an email. Time is money. Alphabet Googlers don’t have enough of either.

I read “Google Owner Accuses EU of Antitrust About-Face.” The idea is that the European Union is not behaving in a manner acceptable to the Alphabet Googlers. Even worse, the EU is changes its collective mind. I know that governments are supposed to be consistent, but check out the water rights issues for farmers in Nevada. The government can and does changes it mind, often with negative consequences. Think dead cows and wilting crops.

If you try to read the Wall Street Journal story you  have have to view the content. If you a dead tree subscribers, dive into your back issues.

I highlighted several points in the real journalist write up:

First, the Alphabet Google thing does not perceive any basis for imposing fines on the friendly search giant.

Second, the non Googley EU officials want to make the case against the Google Alphabet thing global, not just local to the well organized, efficient European Union. Here’s the passage I circled:

The EU warned that Google could face substantial fines and called on the company to use the “same underlying processes and methods” when presenting rival comparison-shopping services on its search page, according to people who have seen the EU’s charge sheet. Fines could theoretically amount to 10% of the company’s revenue, which in 2014 totaled $66 billion.

Third, I put an exclamation point next to this statement:

“If the Commission decides to end the commitment process it must therefore provide reasons for the change in position,” the document says. It argues that the EU “has not provided substantiated reasons as to why it found the January 2014 commitments insufficient.”  Google also questions the EU’s legal justification for demanding that Google change its algorithms to treat comparison-shopping rivals equally in search results. To do so, Google argues, the EU would need to show that its results are as essential as a public utility. “The only legal framework that could apply here for a finding of abuse is the framework for a duty to supply,” the document says. “But the [charge sheet] does not (and cannot) establish the legal conditions for such a duty.”

The tone reminded me of Alphabet Google’s suggestions that China get with the Google program. How did that work out?

For me, the most important factoid in  the write up is that the Alphabet Google response is about 130 pages long. That’s a lot of words, especially for the very busy Googlers.

Maybe the Alphabet Google reorganization will allow the founders to sit on the sidelines and pay for the legal maneuvers. My hunch is that the EU can make life semi annoying for Alphabet Google.

Stephen E Arnold, November 5, 2015

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