Google Deal Said to Bring U.S. Scrutiny
,----[ Quote ]
| In May, WPP, the big ad agency, said it would pay $649 million for
| 24/7 Real Media, whose ad serving business competes with
| DoubleClick. And then Microsoft, which pushed for an antitrust
| investigation of the Google-DoubleClick deal, agreed to pay $6b
| illion for aQuantive, an Internet ad company. One of aQuantive's
| units, Atlas, competes with DoubleClick.
`----
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/technology/29antitrust.html?_r=2&hp&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
Does the puppet regime serve Microsoft's agenda?
Related:
ValueClick Under FTC Investigation
,----[ Quote ]
| Online advertising company ValueClick Inc. is under investigation
| by the Federal Trade Commission concerning its lead-generating
| practices, the company said in a Securities and Exchange
| Commission filing Friday.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/
Bubble Wrap: How Will Microsoft-aQuantive Be Remembered?
,----[ Quote ]
| Microsoft shows no signs of fear. On a conference call today to discuss
| the $6 billion deal, struck at a price well more than double the
| online ad company?s stock value at the beginning of the year,
| Microsoft executives reiterated that
| even bigger acquisitions could be on the horizon.
| ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
`----
http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2007/05/18/bubble-wrap-how-will-microsoft-aquantive-be-remembered/?mod=yahoo_hs
Did Microsoft Panic With This aQuantive Buy?
,----[ Quote ]
| In that argument, Microsoft will argue that Google and DoubleClick
| stifles competition while Microsoft's aQuantive buy stimulates it. I
| don't get the argument to be honest. Online advertising is being
| consolidated among three giants-Google, Yahoo and Microsoft. My
| bet: Microsoft eventually shuts up about Google so it doesn't
| raise concerns about the aQuantive deal.
`----
http://biz.yahoo.com/seekingalpha/070518/35986_id.html?.v=1
News Analysis: Microsoft General Counsel on DoubleClick and Antitrust
,----[ Quote ]
| This raises a very important question - why didn't Microsoft match Google's
| $3.1 billion offer. Smith would not comment on this, but I can report from
| very good sources that in fact the company did offer to match it, and was
| willing to pay even more to insure that Google did not corner the online ad
| market. But for whatever reasons, the private equity firm that owned the
| majority of DoubleClick's shares decided to go with Google.
|
| [...]
|
| I asked Smith about the irony of Microsoft asking the government to
| support it on antitrust. His response was interesting.
`----
http://battellemedia.com/archives/003561.php
Microsoft Befriends Google's Foes
,----[ Quote ]
| After a government- and monopoly-inspired period in which Microsoft had
| to pretend to be a gentle force for global good, the company is being
| forced to return to its ruthless roots. Ironically, it is doing this
| in part by decrying the unfair practices of a competitor and
| shamelessly sucking up to the Establishment.
`----
http://www.forbes.com/2007/03/06/microsoft-google-blodget-tech-cx_hb_0306blodget.html?partner=yahootix
http://tinyurl.com/3bewws
US ambassador to the EU was former Microsoft lobbyist
,----[ Quote ]
| Before C. Boyden Gray was named as George Bush's number one person in
| Europe, he was a lawyer lobbying on behalf of Microsoft.
`----
http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=34706
US politicians go to bat for Microsoft
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/09/26/microsoft_eu_political_lobbying/
Changing the Report, After the Vote
,----[ Quote ]
| That agreement was nearly imperiled last weekend, though. Gerri
| Elliott, corporate vice president at Microsoft's Worldwide Public
| Sector division, sent an e-mail message to fellow commissioners Friday
| evening saying that she "vigorously" objected to a paragraph in which
| the panel embraced and encouraged the development of open source software
| and open content projects in higher education. The paragraph read like
| this:
|
| "The commission encourages the creation of incentives to promote
| the development of open-source and open-content projects at universities
| and colleges across the United States, enabling the open sharing of
| educational materials from a variety of institutions, disciplines, and
| educational perspectives. Such a portal could stimulate innovation, and
| serve as the leading resource for teaching and learning. New initiatives
| such as OpenCourseWare, the Open Learning Initiative, the Sakai Project,
| and the Google Book project hold out the potential of providing universal
| access both to general knowledge and to higher education."
`----
http://insidehighered.com/news/2006/09/01/commission
Feds seek formal extension of Microsoft antitrust deal
,----[ Quote ]
| The U.S. Department of Justice and Microsoft on Wednesday filed a
| formal application for a two-year extension of portions of their
| landmark antitrust settlement, with the possibility of stretching it
| until 2012.
| ^^^^^^^^^^
`----
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-3513_22-6111240.html
|
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