____/ [H]omer on Monday 22 October 2007 13:16 : \____
> EU extends Google/DoubleClick inquiry to November 13
>
> .----
> | The European Commission on Monday extended the deadline for its
> | inquiry into Google's proposed purchase of rival DoubleClick to
> | November 13 from October 26.
> |
> | The deadline for a decision on the $3.1 billion deal was moved back
> | so proposed remedies to possible competition problems could be
> | tested, a spokeswoman for the European Union executive said.
> |
> | That means Google has proposed changes to the deal, which will be
> | vetted with customers and competitors.
> |
> | DoubleClick and Google are involved in the sale of on-line ads,
> | although their business models differ.
> |
> | The deal faces vehement opposition from competitors Microsoft Corp
> | and Yahoo Inc.
> |
> | Google's rivals argue that the merger poses competition and privacy
> | concerns. But the Commission has said it may consider only
> | competition problems.
> |
> | The deal is also undergoing review by the Federal Trade Commission
> | in the United States. Experts there have predicted it will win
> | approval.
> |
> | The European and U.S. commissions are working closely together on
> | the review of the case.
> `----
>
> http://www.reuters.com/article/innovationNews/idUSL2213784720071022
>
Microsoft sick obsession with Google is costing it some PR points (I'm sure the
Gates Foundation will /BUY/ them back).
Didn't Microsoft offer even /MORE/ money for DoubleClick? Didn't it end up
buying a company for twice the cost that Google pays to acquire DoubleClick?
Microsoft takes dubious position against Google
,----[ Quote ]
| Listening to Microsoft Corp. moan to Congress about how Google Inc. is going
| to corner the market on advertising because of its proposed DoubleClick
| acquisition is a ludicrous exercise.
`----
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/microsoft-takes-dubious-position-against/story.aspx?guid=%7B0355F494%2D3EC5%2D427D%2D89B0%2D5A2F6AF2C62B%7D&siteid=yhoof
Chief Execs Group Paid Lobbyist $120,000
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070928/business_roundtable_lobbying.html?.v=1
Yahoo, WPP join Microsoft in questioning Google-DoubleClick merger
,----[ Quote ]
| Siebrecht reiterated that Microsoft has “concerns around market concentration
| implications of this merger.” He said Microsoft is responding to FTC requests
| for information about the Google-DoubleClick deal.
`----
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=730
Microsoft Taps PR Firm To Thwart Google
,----[ Quote ]
| Google's proposed purchase of DoubleClick earned it an invitation to a Senate
| subcommittee hearing this week. Microsoft's work with PR firm
| Burson-Marsteller could have helped print that invite.
`----
http://www.webpronews.com/insiderreports/2007/09/24/microsoft-taps-pr-firm-to-thwart-google
Is anyone surprised Microsoft is lobbying to thwart Google?
http://blogs.zdnet.com/microsoft/?p=729
Microsoft in row over lobby tactics
,----[ Quote ]
| The Observer has seen an email sent by a director at leading lobby firm
| Burson-Marsteller to a number of top UK businesses. The email urges board
| members to raise the issue of Google's dominance of search engines with
| politicians, regulators and the media.
`----
http://money.guardian.co.uk/news_/story/0,,2174794,00.html
Google Asks EU's OK of DoubleClick Buy
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Corp. — which also had wanted to buy DoubleClick — said its views
| had not changed since April when it warned that the deal "raised serious
| competition and privacy concerns" by giving unprecedented control over online
| advertising.
|
| To help make its case against the DoubleClick deal, Microsoft plans to send
| its general counsel to Washington next week to testify at a U.S. Senate
| hearing scheduled to examine whether the proposed acquisition would undermine
| competition and consumer privacy rights.
`----
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gjlFrxpOtagL0oJmWNNBTeeu5ySA
Google Apps Catches Flak
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft is launching an anti-Google propaganda campaign.
`----
http://blogs.wsj.com/biztech/2007/09/11/google-apps-catches-flak/?mod=yahoo_hs
Same s* here in Europe:
Kroes slams US criticism of EU Microsoft ruling
,----[ Quote ]
| Kroes said that it was "unacceptable" that a representative of the US
| judiciary should criticise a court of law outside his jurisdiction.
|
| “It is absolutely not done,” she told journalists on Wednesday.
|
| “The European commission does not pass judgement on US rulings and we should
| expect the same from the US.”
`----
http://www.eupolitix.com/EN/News/200709/87884c7c-c721-49b1-b6f0-5ba4ece0897c.htm
Microsoft Finds Legal Defender in Justice Dept.
,----[ Quote ]
| Nearly a decade after the government began its landmark effort to break
| up Microsoft, the Bush administration has sharply changed course by
| repeatedly defending the company both in the United States and abroad
| against accusations of anticompetitive conduct, including the recent
| rejection of a complaint by Google.
|
| [...]
|
| In the most striking recent example of the policy shift, the top
| antitrust official at the Justice Department last month urged state
| prosecutors to reject a confidential antitrust complaint filed by
| Google that is tied to a consent decree that monitors Microsoft's
| behavior. Google has accused Microsoft of designing its latest
| operating system, Vista, to discourage the use of Google's desktop
| search program, lawyers involved in the case said.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/business/10microsoft.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin
US politicians go to bat for Microsoft
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/microsoft_eu_political_lobbying/
Report Says Nonprofits Sold Influence to Abramoff
,----[ Quote ]
| E-mails released by the committee show that Abramoff, often
| with the knowledge of the groups' leaders, exploited the tax-exempt
| status and leveraged the stature of the organizations to build
| support among conservatives for legislation or government action
| sought by clients including Microsoft Corp., mutual fund company
| DH2 Inc., Primedia Inc.'s Channel One Network, and Brown-Forman,
| maker of Jack Daniel's whiskey.
`----
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/10/12/AR2006101200889.html
http://tinyurl.com/y2rbpu
Politicians in Microsoft's Pocket
,----[ Quote ]
| Continuing on the theme of which politicians are receiving money from
| who. Here is a list of candidates who took money from MSFT.
`----
http://www.fonz.net/blog/archives/2007/06/04/politicians-in-microsofts-pocket/
Politics and tech companies: follow the money
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft took first place with $651,100 given out, while
| Hewlett-Packard gave only $185,550, and Gateway gave a paltry
| $2,000. Microsoft's donations certainly illustrate well the true
| size of the company and the extent of its political concerns.
`----
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20061110-8194.html
Microsoft Paid Lobbyist $160,000
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft Paid Paid Bingham McCutchen $160,000 to Lobby Federal Gov't in
| First Half of 2007
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/070905/microsoft_lobbying.html?.v=1
Yahoo!, Microsoft ink web pact with Chinese government
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft and Yahoo! have signed a pact with the Chinese government
| that "encourages" the big name web players to record the identities of
| bloggers and censor content. So says Reporters Without Borders, an
| organization that fights for journalistic rights across the globe.
`----
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/08/24/yahoo_and_microsoft_ink_chinese_blogging_pact/
--
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