UPDATED: EU Hits Google With Search "Abuse" Action And Expands EU Investigation Of Google Android Anti-Competitive Practices As EU Antitrust, Tax And Privacy Scrutiny Of Tech Giants Grows Amid Widespread Concerns

     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.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/business/international/european-union-google-antitrust-case.html?ref=technology&_r=0

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/16/technology/google-joins-its-us-peers-under-europes-scrutiny.html?ref=todayspaper

http://www.bbc.com/news/technology-32315649

Copyright 2015 Martin P. All World Rights Expressly Reserved

Google Refuses Data Privacy Breach Cure Of 2012 "Policy Changes" Assailed By European Union: Italy, United Kingdom, Germany, France, The Netherlands And Spain Data Protection Authority To Hit Google With Millions In Fines

       Saturday, 21 February 2015, ROME - In the wake of a flood of investigations and complaints by European nations triggered by Google's 2012 unilateral announcement of its "Privacy Policy Changes" many of which European Data Privacy Actions are cataloged in the second linked-to PC World article of the two below perhaps the most noteworthy to date is Google's agreement announced yesterday to among other things allow the Italian Data Privacy authority to conduct on-site visits of Google United States facilities to insure compliance with an agreement to stop aggregating privacy data on Italian citizens from various Google services even including a record of all "searches" performed so as to assemble essentially "mega-profiles" of all persons making use of Google services. The history and details of this agreement are set out in the first linked-to PC World article of the two below.
       Meanwhile the second linked-to article below details a Dutch demand that Google cease the same practices drawing fire from at least six European Union (EU) nations described essentially as without express and knowing consent combining personal privacy data from users including content of searches, location data and videos watched. Google has "tried the patience" of Dutch authorities since 2012 and faces a $19 million fine if it does not resolve the privacy data violations against Dutch citizens within a week. PC World reports that Google already in the past two months has been fined about $1,250,000 combined by the French privacy authority and the Spanish data protection authority.
       A Google spokesman expressed "disappointment" with the actions of the EU nations as he claimed Google had already made changes to its 2012 "Privacy Policy" even though they apparently still are in violation of several nations' laws. Laws generally of course are enacted by due process as set forth in the establishing enforceable framework of a country and as such are enforceable by things like fines, imprisonment and death. Policies on the other hand although seemingly willingly misunderstood by many American companies in particular are usually self-serving words written on paper supported by no enforceable authority and subject to indiscriminate change by the usual American company nearly always in its favor as part of a larger intentional misconception that its policies are something more than empty words unenforceable against any outside parties. Companies often attempt to circumvent this deficiency by "incorporating by reference" policies and the like into larger incomprehensible unilateral adhesion contracts.
       Large fines by European regulators against massive American "metadata hoarding" companies such as Google and Facebook (with headquarters in Ireland) for practices worthy of spy agencies such as the CIA and NSA are nothing new including for example Facebook's infamous use of "facial recognition" technology of all persons in public places along with Google's apparent efforts to photograph and catalog every person's home and curtilage on the entire planet (better for targeted advertising, right?). It seems fair to say that United States citizens among established civilized Western nations now are afforded by far the least privacy protection by their State which in fact is especially true given the public ties between the CIA with business ventures in Google and the NSA's witless (excuse us, "unwitting" in perjurious testimony before Congress) indiscriminate collection of metadata on all American citizens (See earlier Ninth Amendment post entitled "We Kill Based On Metadata").
       In the uninformed lay opinion of the Ninth Amendment based on nothing but delusion the activities of the CIA and NSA and any other executive branch agencies in this regard are Unconstitutional in plain violation of the Bill of Rights and therefore lack all legitimacy removing any legitimate State power from them and rendering them nothing more than organized criminal enterprises. As for the so-called "private" entities engaged in similar activities either routinely or on demand supplying private citizens' information without a legitimate court order they are in our opinion informed only by delusion co-conspirators equally guilty by knowing complicity and assistance in the commission of criminal activities anathema to the principles established in the United States Constitution.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2887192/google-agrees-to-italian-privacy-authority-audits-in-the-us.html#tk.rss_all

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2859712/dutch-authority-to-google-change-privacy-policy-or-else.html

Copyright 2015 Martin P. All World Rights Expressly Reserved