Wednesday, 15 April 2015, BRUSSELS - European Union (EU) competition commissioner Margrethe Vestager a leading Danish politician who last year became the EU's antitrust chief today accused Google in a statement of objection making the formal complaint that Google's dominant search engine diverts traffic from its competitors to favor Google's own goods and services particularly shopping websites. Google has ten weeks to respond and rebuke the charges or alternatively try to settle the matter to avoid the potential levy of a fine of more than 6 billion Euros (about $6.5 billion) which is approximately 10 per cent of Google's last reported annual revenue. Ms. Vestager also said the investigation leading to the complaint may expand beyond shopping websites.
EU competition commissioner Vestager further announced today that the Commission was expanding its investigation into Google's business practices concerning its Android software with which operating system Google holds an 81% worldwide market share for phones and other mobile devices amid concerns that Google requires mobile device makers using the Android operating system and desiring Google applications such as YouTube to bundle and/or place Google-branded applications in the most prominent positions on the devices. Google vigorously denied all charges.
The EU announcements come amid continuing complaints of competitors and intensifying EU scrutiny of tax breaks, anti-competitive and privacy policy concerns about U.S. tech giants in a widespread growing climate of European and other countries' concerns about possible abuses of nations and their citizens by dominant American technology companies whose practices have gone largely unchecked or in some areas such as privacy invasions even may have been encouraged by the U.S. government in light of revelations of the complicity of some in the U.S. government continuing global mass surveillance and metadata collection practices such as by the National Security Agency as well as other U.S. government agencies.
Readers interested in more information about the above EU actions can go to one or more links below while those readers interested in actions underway or contemplated in other non-European nations as to U.S. giant tech company practices are referred particularly to the New York Times link below. [UPDATE] The New York Times article since also has been significantly expanded in the second link below.
Copyright 2015 Martin P. All World Rights Expressly Reserved
