Google cannot be broken up without new legislation, says EU Competition Commissioner

EurActiv ^ | 20/05/2014 - 14:40 | James Crisp

[Olog-hai]

Google cannot be broken up into smaller companies without new EU legislation, the European Commission said today (20 May), after detailing two potential new antitrust investigations into the internet giant.

Competition Commissioner Joaquín Almunia was responding to comments made earlier this week by German’s Economy Minister Sigmar Gabriel, who said Google may have such a dominant market position that a break-up had to be “seriously considered.” Existing competition law was not powerful enough to split up the business, Almunia said.

The California-based company may yet face a separate antitrust investigation to the one ongoing since November 2012. Open Internet Project, a group of 400 European digital market members, made a different complaint on Friday. […]

Open Internet Project’s complaint and the 2012 complainants accuse Google of abusing a dominant market position. Google has about 90% market share in the EU. The company is criticized for promoting Google Maps or Google Shopping when users enter a search query on the main Google website, while preventing rivals from claiming such spots. …

[Olog-hai]

So to go after Google, the EU has to go ex post facto.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Google might decide to break up the EU, instead. :)

[Olog-hai]

Couldn’t happen sooner.

[for-q-clinton]

Same garbage happened to Microsoft. It’s BS that you get declared a monopoly and then they look back and see how much they can screw you over. Instead they should rule a company a monopoly and then going forward any practice they do that tries to tie in other markets is illegal and subject to punishment.

I’m not a fan of google, but it’s BS that they are going to get punished for doing what has made them successful (which was perfectly legal until they hit an arbitrary level of business).

[Resettozero]

(which was perfectly legal until they hit an arbitrary level of business).

Everything which Obama has done has been perfectly legal. Just ask any of his or his administration's counselors. All perfectly legal.

(Matter of fact...Obama and Goog

[livius]

Why do they want to break up Google? I guess because it’s successful and people like the services, and Google has actually refused to kowtow to the Muslims and the international Communists on a couple of free-speech issues.

[Age of Reason]

I agree with the EU. Google should be broken up into smaller companies.

[impimp]

Why do you agree with the EU?

[MarkL]

I think Google should do what the cigarette companies SHOULD HAVE done when the US government went after them. I'm no fan of tobacco, but when the government began the shake down, the tobacco companies should have said, "Yup, you're right, we were bad. So we're taking our companies overseas, closing out plants, and will stop all purchases of tobacco from American farmers, and no longer sell any tobacco products in the US.

The politicians would have wet themselves.

Google should block all Internet traffic from the EU, and stop all search results that would return businesses located in the EU.

Google should just boycott the EU and tell them to go pound sand.

Mark

[AHerald]

I’m quite ignorant about this subject and wonder if someone here can explain how it is that an American-based company is potentially subject to being broken up by the EU. Would the scope of a Google break-up be limited exclusively to Google’s European divisions?

[grundle]

Whoever ends up with the google.com domain will have a huge advantage over the others.