How Europe Wants to Break up Google, and More
Isabelle Roughol
Building news organisations where people love to work｜Journalist & media executive｜Public historian
GOOGLEPHOBIA – The EU decidedly has it in for Google. The European Parliament is expected to vote Thursday on a resolution that would call for the unbundling of Google, demanding that its search engine business be split from its other activities. At issue is Google's unquestioned dominance – it handles 90% of searches in Europe – and Europe's distrust of monopolies, especially when they're foreign and control access to information. Germany's politicians in particular, left and right, have led the fight. Google execs are said to be "furious," writes the Financial Times, at a move they see as politically motivated.
The commission has for four years investigated Google on antitrust charges, and the European Court of Justice famously enshrined a "right to be forgotten," forcing Google to delist some "irrelevant" search results. A parliamentary motion could not break up Google, but it would put pressure on the European Commission (the executive branch) to introduce legislation. You have to hand it to the EU for asking the questions few others do on the dangers of monopolies. But it's unclear how legislation could pass muster when it so clearly points the gun at a single company. Or what European institutions could do against a US company. And that's at the heart of the EU's targeting of Google – a fear, part completely justified, part hysteria, of a foreign Silicon Valley looming large and with little transparency over every European citizen and business.
But the punishment the European Parliament is considering hardly fits the crime. As several commentators point out, only the vendetta, not the case, compares with Microsoft in 1990s, which made it virtually impossible to use a competitor's product on a PC. Diginomica's editor Stuart Lauchlan writes:
It is totally not comparable to switching to a new search engine which takes, oooooooh, seconds! Surely the most that should be required is for a ‘we collect cookies’ style message pointing out that other search engines are available, just in case the hard-of-thinking hadn’t realised. (Read the full story.)
In fact, now just using Firefox will ensure you don't use Google unless you really want to.
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CHANGES – Samsung may soon be shaking up its top ranks, according to the Wall Street Journal's Jonathan Cheng and Sam Schechner. Co-CEO and head of the mobile division J.K. Shin is rumored to be on his way out, both of mobile and likely the shared top job, after profits dropped 60 percent in the 3rd quarter and Samsung lost mobile market share. J.K. Shin had also presided over Samsung's great rise in mobile, with the Galaxy line, but business can be unkind. The mobile division would fall into the hands of other co-Ceo and head of TVs and appliances B.K. Yoon. There's a third co-CEO too, for semiconductors and displays, but power eventually rests with the chairman, Lee Kun-Hee, in ill health, and his son and heir, vice-chairman Jay Y. Lee. The idea is for Samsung to find its footing again, against Apple but also up and coming competitors in China and emerging markets, like Xiaomi, now third in smartphone market share.
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I SPY – Cybersecurity firm Symantec has identified the newest big bad malware, and it's actually been around for years. Regin is a spying software most likely developed by a nation-state for data collection and intelligence campaigns. Symantec says it's one of the most sophisticated piece of malware ever and has been used for at least six years, mainly against targets in Russia and Saudi Arabia. For the technically minded, all details are here. Again, the weak link in the security chain is human:
Symantec believes that some targets may be tricked into visiting spoofed versions of well-known websites and the threat may be installed through a Web browser or by exploiting an application. On one computer, log files showed that Regin originated from Yahoo! Instant Messenger through an unconfirmed exploit. ( Read the full post.)
Re/code's Arik Hesseldahl points out that the info comes from the same team that uncovered Stuxnet, the worm that sabotaged Iranian nuclear installations in 2010. Symantec doesn't know where the malware was developed. One researched told Hesseldahl:
“The best clues we have are where the infections have occurred and where they have not. We know it was a government that is technically advanced. … This has been a huge spying campaign dating back at least to 2008 and maybe even as early as 2006.” ( Read the full story.)
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Network Operations Center at TEKsystems
10 年If Google was forced to be split are the other parts of the company actually large enough to survive on thier own?
Works at IR
10 年Explain
Resident Engineer
10 年Let the invisible hand run its course. Google's great, by all means, but that only nurtures the zealousness of its competition.
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10 年Nao a mui trabalho
Nano ?Tech
10 年Now you have become talking about Google and corporate America and the monopoly strange and spyware commanded you Europeans do not know what you want? At a time when we see a scientific and economic progress in the US and China see a clear decline in the scientific and economic progress in Europe and see the brain drain creative to countries like America is always talking about the plot and American espionage and corporate America we do not see you any serious step to support the talent and minds of inventors and scientists only statements and bubbles briefings on scientific and technical progress and support minds, scientists and entrepreneurs did not see anything on the ground only bubbles informational Why migrate scientists in Britain or Germany, for example, America, because there is the fact of science and innovation opportunities and interest in supporting the minds and projects between us Europe is sinking on all day in the darkness of ignorance and underdevelopment scientific and intellectual, technical and due to the lack of view clear future to support science and innovation and support minds or even a real investment in the minds and human resources understand life-makers and makers of the future, these nations progressing and these rise because the state is in the ranks of developed countries instead of focusing on real estate, tourism and the stock was better to focus on scientists and inventors minds and entrepreneurs I've read a lot of science projects and inventions in Europe, such as Britain and Germany, for example, the inventory in universities and research centers always see support comes from major US companies, for example, such as Microsoft Corp. which regards Mall project Queen's University British Marie in the project audio converting electrical energy to charge the smartphone is the company Orange UK branch note that this project is adapted from the draft, which was the attack on our rights by these antagonists Why not support university projects and inventors in Europe of independent budget supports inventors and protect their inventions and transformation global trading product competes with US companies, Chinese instead of support comes from American companies may dominate or monopolize this project, the project owner the same account and therefore the loss of real opportunity and serious to support the European economy and achieve advantage of all that one invention can bring the budget billions of dollars to any European country supports These projects which yields much better than oil and petroleum investment in minds about American companies large empire reckoned with even American companies today are state within the United States and less American company tied its budget budget 5-8 states all within a plan of action and look economical planned This is the top of Malé and the American and, despite everything, is still a favorite for Migration country and especially to the owners of the minds of scientists, inventors and even businessmen and easily establish a very easy company procedures and Atklv much I know that this message will not find from the Koran or comment on them a positive comment because we are always accustomed disregard and lack of a sense of responsibility and the problem I have contacted the administrator of the European Commission, while the Commission put forward a project demanded by the manufacturers of smartphones unification Charger these devices to become a unified charger for all and can not be that this never responds companies to this request for a matter relating to their interests and suggested that the European official international innovation project you've recorded Previously at WIPO in Geneva, Switzerland, a global invention project offers a radical solution to all the problems of technical energy plaguing smartphones problems but this charge completely ignored my message did not want it, how advancing European countries and how they do not want from America or American companies lack scientific progress or monopoly or So I advise you to reconsider espionage in this lame policy if you really are looking for progress and leadership