Comments on: Gagging Google

By: Mark

Mark — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 15:39:21 +0000

I agree with you Russ that this action is shameful and disgusting. Apple just had their unveil of new iPods this morning, wherein they ADMITTED to having around 75% market share of portable mp3 players!!! Where's the justice department? How can they let Apple continue this unmitigated evil? Please, someone save us from this commercial domination by Apple, the consumer electronics oligarch!!! How dare the Bush administration allow tiny little companies like Sony and Microsoft to get beat up by the big, mean Apple?! Oh the humanity!!!

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 10:38:35 +0000

Ironic that Microsoft, having been the victim of bogus antitrust action by the government, would join an equally bogus antitrust suit themselves… Ironic, but not in the least surprising.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 09:06:04 +0000

While I think the idea of suing to stop this thing is absurd under current anti-trust law (is there really a distinct market for search-based advertising? Is there anything stopping somebody new from entering that market?) and just bad policy altogether, I don't think it's unconstitutional. It's almost certainly legal under current commerce clause thinking.

By: Deryl G

Deryl G — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:24:18 +0000

If firms are suppose to maximize profits and it's profitable to use the government against your competition, then first ought to do so.

If this is not desirable (and I think that it is not), then we ought to work on making it not profitable.

By: Jonathan Bydlak

Jonathan Bydlak — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 01:06:54 +0000

Thanks for posting this, Russ. People need to hear about this and understand how atrocious it is.

What I find particularly interesting is that Microsoft is one of the companies most strongly opposed to the deal. How do you gain profit when you stop innovating? That's easy: lobby the government for corporate welfare and coercive interventions against your competitors.

That reminds me of a line that Paul Graham said a while back about online dating companies like eHarmony... (from memory) "You can tell they've stopped improving their service because they're having to advertise for new customers on TV."

Well, I guess the analog now is that you can tell how much a company has stopped innovating by how much they lobby the government.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:38:06 +0000

And, of course, the hypocrisy from these companies is breathtaking. Microsoft has no compunctions about using antitrust laws against competitors who produce a better-quality product against which it can't complete. Just like Google had no compunctions about doing the same to Microsoft. Pathetic and disgusting.