Alleged Secret Google Antitrust Proposals Leaked

itwbennett writes "Google's latest proposals aimed at avoiding an antitrust fine from European authorities have been leaked amid growing anger over the secrecy surrounding the case. The documents, which have been verified by sources in possession of the originals, revealed the full remedies put forward by Google, the questionnaire that rivals have been asked to fill in giving their response to the remedies and a comparison document showing the changes in Google's remedies since the last proposals. Unlike the first round of so-called 'market testing,' Google's revised proposals have not been made public and were only sent to 125 interested parties who were warned that they were not to be made public."

Re:They built the best search engine, so punish th

[Nerdfest]

The whole investigation was done by a group controoled by Microsoft, so Bing is unlikely to be a target.

Re:They built the best search engine, so punish th

[pla]

Really, is it a crime to be better than your competitors?

In the EU, for an American company - Yes. Google. Microsoft. Amazon.

In the EU, for a European company, they actively promote that. Airbus. RBS. BP.

In the US, for an American company - Only if they reach some completely arbitrary threshold of "too big", which at least since Standard Oil has apparently applies solely to technology companies, while the banking industry can snort blow off the asses of underage Filipino prostitutes with impunity. AT&T and Microsoft, vs Goldman Sachs and Fannie.

For symmetry I would mention "In the US, for a European company", but see no point in dealing with purely hypothetical situations. ;)

Re:They built the best search engine, so punish th

[pla]

It has nothing to do with size. AT&T and Microsoft were engaged in specific, targetted actions against their competitors, while Goldman Sachs and Fannie Mae were not. You should have taken the fact that you had to introduce arbitrary-looking exceptions to your hypothesis as a warning that because your hypothesis was wrong.

You've missed a prerequisite here.

The things that AT&T and Microsoft got busted for, while specific and targeted, don't break the law when done by a "not too big" company.

If you wrote your own OS today, and bundled your own browser with it, specifically and targetedly intending to undercut Microsoft's sales - You have done absolutely nothing wrong. You could even brag about your attempts in your SEC filings, and comfortably remain on the legal side of the fence.

Microsoft's actions only crossed into antitrust territory because they exceed a magic (and completely arbitrary) threshold for size.