Senators Ask Google About Phone Call To Match on Day Before Testimony

The two top senators on the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on antitrust sent a letter to Google Tuesday asking about an alleged call to Tinder-maker Match Group the day before its top lawyer was set to testify about treatment on the Google Play app store. From a report: Match's chief legal officer Jared Sine told senators during last week's hearing that employees at Google called Match after Sine's opening testimony became public. Sine said they asked why his testimony differed from Match's comments on its last earnings call, where executives said they believed they were having productive conversations about Google's 30% fee for in-app payments through its app store. In the testimony, Sine complained Google had made "false pretenses of an open platform."

Asked about the call at the hearing, Google's senior director of public policy and government relations Wilson White said it seemed like Google's business development team reached out to ask an "honest question." He added that he didn't view the question as a threat and that Google relies on app developers using its app store to be successful. In the letter addressed to White, subcommittee chair Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and ranking member Mike Lee, R-Utah, asked for details of the alleged call, including the names of those on the call and what they said. "We are deeply troubled by Match Group's claims that Google may have attempted to influence another witness's testimony,â they wrote. "Any efforts to retaliate against those who speak up about public policy issues or possible legal violations are unacceptable, especially by dominant companies that have the power to destroy the business of a whistle-blower."

Asking the wrong question

[A10Mechanic]

I think I'd be more concerned that all their communications are being monitored, but that's just me.

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[bws111]

What's the connection between 'communications being monitored' and this story?

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[Entrope]

People who don't read TFA, or even TFS, jump to moronic conclusions. Welcome to Slashdot!

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[FelisbertaMusi]

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[bloodhawk]

How the fuck did you jump to that unrelated statement from this story?

Apple looking to get...

[geekmux]

"Google called Match after Sine's opening testimony became public..."

So, Google calls the Tinder Pimp after a testimony?

So, were they worried about being fucked, getting fucked, or were they just looking for a good fuck..

SEC violation?

[TWX]

Match's chief legal officer Jared Sine told senators during last week's hearing that employees at Google called Match after Sine's opening testimony became public. Sine said they asked why his testimony differed from Match's comments on its last earnings call, where executives said they believed they were having productive conversations about Google's 30% fee for in-app payments through its app store. In the testimony, Sine complained Google had made "false pretenses of an open platform."

Wouldn't that be an SEC violation? Isn't it a crime to lie to investors? Telling investors that essentially one is happy with a business arrangement and that discussions are going well would seem to be contradicted by testimony that the company does not feel that the relationship is fair, healthy, or productive.

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[chadenright]

To Investors: "We have one million users in Google's area, and we're directing all of them towards these guys. There's no way they can turn us down."

To Congress: "They turned us down. All of us. This is now a toxic relationship."

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[TWX]

Exactly.

The problem being that they voiced an official position on th merit of the relationship rather than simply stating that the relationship exists.

An innocent explanation

[gosso920]

They were talking about their grandchildren. Just like Bill Clinton and Loretta Lynch.