GoogleGazer

Understandably, the behemoth from Redmond, WA is running scared.

Since, it effectively lost the main tech wars that matter “fair and square” in the tech ring by a technical knockout, it resorted to throwing three devious “below the belt” punches in the street.

How so?

First, Google made the courageous decision to stop filtering information at the whim of the Chinese oligarchs, even if it meant withdrawing from China, once they discovered agents of the Chinese government initiated an internet attack and broke into their servers, aiming to steal Chinese dissidents’ Gmail accounts. On Jan. 12, 2010 Google Chief Legal Officer David Drummond said that Google will cease censoring results on Google.cn, and will discuss with the Chinese government whether or not the company can continue to offer its search engine in China after the hack into Google’s servers was revealed.

Rather than standing up for freedom, and helping to beat back the repressive attack, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, backed by Microsoft chairman Bill Gates, issued pious, mealy-mouthed kiss-up statements to the Chinese such as “You’ve got to decide: Do you want to obey the laws of the countries you’re in, or not? If not, you may not end up doing business there.” (After a little prodding, Google’s complaints received backing from the White House).  Microsoft is only concerned about the almighty dollar, right and wrong (which Microsoft has never been too good at differentiating) be damned.

Strike 1.

On Feb. 23, we learned three Internet companies filed complaints with the Brussels-based European Commission alleging that the search engine is demoting their Websites in Google search results and not respecting fair competition. The EC, the antitrust watchdog of the European Union, agreed to look into it.

The complaints were made by Ciao.de, a German subsidiary of Microsoft Corp.; Foundem.co.uk, a U.K. price comparison site; and Ejustice.fr, a French site specializing in legal search inquiries, Google said.

Google intimated this whole affair reeks of Microsoft and we agree.

A Microsoft subsidiary complaining about Google to the EU. Now there’s an irony. Over the last decade, the commission has levied fines of about $2.5 billion on Microsoft for antitrust violations and not adhering to its promises. That’s really the pot calling the kettle black.

Strike 2.

For several years, Google meticulously negotiated a deal to make out-of-print books available, sharing fees all around, much as radio stations pay music publishers when songs are aired on the radio. The proposed deal is not mandatory; authors can opt out. But Microsoft funded something calling itself the Open Book Alliance in opposing a plan that benefits authors (such as your truly), publishers and readers the world over, and is backed by the Authors Guild and the Association of American Publishers

OK. So let’s get the right. The authors and the publishers and Google all agree. Microsoft abandoned its Book search service in 2008, so it has no dog in this fight. Why fund the opposition then? A Google spokesperson says it sounds like sour grapes. The GoogleGazer agrees.

Strike 3.

According to the rules of baseball, when three strikes occur on a batter, it is a strikeout and the batter is automatically out.

Filed under: Uncategorized Tagged: | Association of American Publishers, google china, Microsoft EU, Microsoft European Union, Open Book Alliance