“Google enlisted members of the US congress, whose election campaigns it had funded, to pressure the European Union to drop a €6bn antitrust case which threatens to decimate the US tech firm’s business in Europe,” Simon Marks and Harry Davies report for The Guardian.
“The coordinated effort by senators and members of the House of Representatives, as well as by a congressional committee, formed part of a sophisticated, multimillion-pound lobbying drive in Brussels, which Google has significantly ramped up as it fends off challenges to its dominance in Europe,” Marks and Davies report. “An investigation by the Guardian into Google’s multifaceted lobbying campaign in Europe has uncovered fresh details of its activities and methods.”
“Google’s co-founder and CEO Larry Page met the then European commission chief privately in California in spring 2014 and raised the antitrust case despite being warned by EU officials that it would be inappropriate to do so,” Marks and Davies report. “Google has employed several former EU officials as in-house lobbyists, and has funded European thinktanks and university research favourable to its position as part of its broader campaign.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Do Know Evil.
Wow. Just disgusting. More disgusting are people that advocate and support this company. That or they are just plain stupid.
Aw give it a break; when the EU goes after Apple “all’s fair in love and war”, but if it’s Google it’s a different story. Yeah, Google’s a slimy outfit, but it’s also a business, and I don’t blame ’em for doing what they have to do to stay on top. You think the EU would pull this crap if it was a European company?
The point here is not which company EU went after. The point is that Google bought slimy political to fight the anti-trust battle
Two things: first, if Apple would do the same they would get caught too. Is there any evidence on similar conduct by Apple with any of its legal problems? No, there is not (but Google is doing pretty much the same in its Java copyright case.)
Second, yes, I do think EU would have done it a long time ago for any European company. They really do value rights of the people over rights of the corporations.
Not all companies are the same.
Just as not all people are the same.
Choose quality !
There’s a job for Blatter just itching to be filled then.
Those members should loose their seats in congress! The corruption and money funding needs to stop!
Balderdash, most companies make political contributions. And why in the world shouldn’t they use their own government to leverage their positions in an international environment? You think the U.S. is the only country protecting their own businesses and people? It ain’t kindergarten out in the real world, so get off your high horse.
Yes, most companies make political contributions, but Google has long been the #1 in lobbying amongst tech companies in the US. They spend 10x as much as a company like Apple. And, now, they’re the #1 in lobbying in Europe amongst tech companies. What you imply is a level playing field, but when Google spends an order of magnitude more than the largest company in the World, Apple, then it’s not at all level, is it?
No. Business is NOT business when its point is to corrupt and overthrow law and government. The name for THAT practice is clearly FASCISM.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism
You may wish the world was one big POTTERSVILLE of parasitism. But most people do NOT. We fought a world war over it.
Deal with it. Parasites ≠ Businessmen. They’re just another form of assh*le.
If folks don’t like the law that they recently passed allowing Google to do this, then they should call their congressman to ask that the law be repealed and the previous law limiting campaign contributions be put back into effect.
In that case, most politicians would lose their job. Do you think politicians work for us? No they answer to big oil companies, tobacco companies and whoever gives them money.
In that case, most congressperson would lose their job. Do you think they work for us? No, they answer to big oil companies, tobacco companies and whoever gives them money.
Thus the term CORPORATOCRACY.
loose
lo͞os/Submit
adjective
1. not firmly or tightly fixed in place; detached or able to be detached.
“a loose tooth”
synonyms: not fixed in place, not secure, unsecured, unattached;
antonyms: secure, tight, not held or tied together; not packaged or placed in a container. “wear your hair loose”
synonyms: untied, unpinned, unbound, hanging free, down, flowing “she wore her hair loose”
(of a person or animal) free from confinement; not bound or tethered. “the bull was loose with cattle in the field”
synonyms: free, at large, at liberty, on the loose, escaped;
not strict or exact.
“a loose interpretation”
synonyms: vague, indefinite, inexact, imprecise, approximate;
not close or compact in structure. “a loose weave”
typical of diarrhea.
“many patients report loose bowel movements”
2. (of a garment) not fitting tightly or closely.
“she slipped into a loose T-shirt and shorts”
synonyms: baggy, generously cut, slack, roomy; More
antonyms: tight, form-fitting
3. relaxed; physically slack.
“she swung back into her easy, loose stride”
careless and indiscreet in what is said.
“there is too much loose talk about the situation”
synonyms: indiscreet, unguarded, free, gossipy, gossiping
“loose talk”
dated
promiscuous; immoral.
“she ran the risk of being called a loose woman”
synonyms: promiscuous, of easy virtue, fast, wanton, unchaste, immoral; More
(of the ball in a game) in play but not in any player’s possession.
verb
verb: loose; 3rd person present: looses; past tense: loosed; past participle: loosed; gerund or present participle: loosing
1. set free; release.
“the hounds have been loosed”
synonyms: free, set free, unloose, turn loose, set loose, let loose, let go, release;
I do not think Google needs to worry.
Amazon is going to put in a good word for them. /s
Good reporting would have actually provided us with the names of these Congressmen so we could take action against them.
My dear chap, take a look at the article.
Rule of life #435:
The people get the government they deserve.
Sad and inevitable.
Except we few who DON’T deserve the catastrophic mess of corruption and anti-real-capitalism get a bit ticked off and wish for what we actually deserve. I’d settle for a constitutional democracy AS INTENDED.
I get that few here think much of Alphabet (The Goog). But I’m struck by the visceral negative reaction by U.S. citizens that a U.S. company would seek to enlist U.S. Government representatives to defend their overseas interests. I might be upset that Alphabet gets support while small U.S. businesses would likely have to fend for themselves. But as a voter I would expect the Government to support U.S. business interests overseas.
I remember when the E.U. went after Microsoft on antitrust issues. Nobody liked MS much but the E.U. case against them was weak to nonexistent. The E.U. commission is not full of saints. They have their own agenda which does not always align well with true free market economics.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatocracy
C O R P O R A T O C R A C Y
Descends On Europe.
📉📉📉