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The entire EU out to get Google battle can be framed in one sentence: Google is private in private industry, the EU bureaucracy is an unelected government

Google Detractors Want to Hand Internet Over to European Union Control


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By —— Bio and Archives September 1, 2017

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There's a new monster out on the trail patiently waiting for the unsuspecting to wander into its mouth before it snaps shut its vizor-like jaws from which there is no possible escape. The monster, the most monolithic of them all, is set to gobble the Internet while piously claiming to save the masses from Google.
"Google's attempt to shut down think tanks, journalists, and public interest advocates researching and writing about the dangers of concentrated private power must end.(CitizensAgainstMonopoly.org) "As an immense corporation, it's wrong for Google to wield its vast financial and political power to try to silence the writers and researchers working to promote sensible antitrust enforcement. This kind of unethical behavior violates Google's founding corporate code of conduct, "Don't be evil." "Stop shutting down monopoly research now." Hello, CitizensAgainstMonopoly.org?! "The dangers of concentrated private power"? How about the dangers of the today-the-pond-tomorrow-the-world power of the greedy grasping European Union?! "Our mission was to protect liberty and democracy from gigantic corporate monopolies. When we criticized Google for its monopoly practices, our program's funding was cut." (Citizens Against Monopoly.org)
"We're continuing the fight--and we need you to join us. "Is Google trying to censor journalists and researchers who fight dangerous monopolies? "Sadly, the answer is: YES "The Open Markets team for the last eight years has led the way in shining a light on America's monopoly problem, and in helping leaders in both parties learn how to fight dangerous concentrations of power. This past June, our team released a statement of support for a European antitrust ruling against Google. "Within days, Google flexed their financial power and got our entire team expelled from our think tank, the New America Foundation."
So the Open Markets group, an initiative run under the New America Foundation, supported by 21 million Google dollars, is now Citizens Against Monopoly which wants people to sign their petition which, in effect, turns the power of the Internet over to the EU--the same EU which has already swallowed up most of Europe's once proud sovereignty. "HERE IS OUR STORY: (Citizens Against Monopoly)
"When our research team at the New America Institute criticized Google's monopoly practices, the chairman of Google's parent company threatened to cut its funding for New America."
Here's Canada Free Press' story: In going after Google, the European Union seeks to turn the lights off on the Internet. Not for political bigwigs and progressive left causes, just for the masses. Power grabs go down so much more effortlessly when they're conducted in the midst of the chicanery of media hype. Cloaked in high dudgeon and sanctimony, the EU would cavalierly tax the technology giant out of business, removing from unsuspecting world masses the Information Highway that is, in reality, the average person's chief access to all information and communication. We all know that Google with its tendency to stifle the voice of online conservatives has warts. The EU's warts are much, much bigger. The EU's high-handed machinations as big boss of the Anti-Trust World comes in the person of of its career-boosting, media-hyped Commissioner for Competition Margrethe Vestager, whose creds come straight out of the Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton playbook.


Gain and control, not altruism, is the EU end goal

In the playbook of the political bigwig, they get to play, we get to pay. While the mainstream media portray Competition Commissioner Vestager as Superwoman of the EU Antitrust Mission', she comes fully equipped with a 900-person staff. Google Vestager yourself to see how hype attempts to downsize her power to a woman who loves to knit and bake. here Sharks don't knit. Whales don't bake cakes, but then again Commissioner Vestager originates from the homeland of fairytale spinner Hans Christen Anderson. Don't believe for a nano-second that the EU is doing anything for little people or that their main mission is trying to level the playing field for Google's competitors such as Facebook and Amazon. Having the sovereignty of most European nations under its vice-grip , the EU now covets the power of the Internet as a law unto itself. This from an organizations whose citizens can't name most of its members. Gain and control, not altruism, is the EU end goal. VOX calls Google's battle with the European Union "the world's biggest economic policy story". And that's exactly what it is! In the most braggartly of fashions, Vastager gave Google one month to pay the tax bills she claims they owe, or pay a $2.8 billion fine come September. Vastager, the would-be Google Vanquisher was (in the dark background) prosecutor, judge and jury in finding Google guilty as charged. Hans Christian Anderson's got nothing on this modern day fairytale:
"The call went out late Monday night Brussels time--early afternoon in California. (Politico, June 28, 2017)
"On one end of the line was Margrethe Vestager, the European Union's commissioner for competition. On the other was Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google. "Vestager, a steely Danish politician, was delivering a blunt message. The next day, in some 12 hours, she would go public with her ruling: the Silicon Valley tech giant had manipulated its search results to unfairly bolster its bottom line."
With no proof of which to speak, shouldn't a Google counter suit be on the way? "The transatlantic phone call was the first formal notice to Google that the European Commission had concluded its probe, according to people on both sides of the case. The conversation was short, cordial and businesslike, according to a person with knowledge of the conversation. (Politico)
"Vestager told Pichai that she had considered his company's arguments but was nonetheless going to fine the company. "What she didn't tell him was the size of the penalty Google faced: a record-breaking 2.4 billion fine. "Vestager even managed to keep a tight lid on the information exchanged when she consulted national competition enforcers on the verdict a few weeks ago. "That, along with a courtesy copy of the 242-page decision, wouldn't be provided until the next day, just a couple of hours before Vestager took to the stage at midday on Tuesday. "After aninquiry that had stretched for 2,401 days and concluded after months of meticulous planning, Vestager was determined not to let anyone steal the show. "Tuesday's announcement will go down as one of the defining moments of Vestager's career, a moment in which she and the EU stamped their authority on one of the world's most powerful companies after years ofsetbacks and reversals. "As recently as Monday, just hours before Vestager spoke with Pichai, Google's key Brussels advisers were unaware a decision was imminent--only learning through the press that a verdict that had been predicted to land at the end of July was suddenly expected by the end of the week, by Wednesday, by Tuesday evening, and finally on Tuesday at noon."

Who asked the EU to take over the anti-trust world?

In the movie world, they would call it, 'The Empire Strikes Back'. Who asked the EU to take over the anti-trust world? Who gave it approval? Certainly not world citizens. And get a load of this for cunning EU style:
"Hours before the announcement, the scale of the fine was known only to a small circle of insiders close to the commissioner--not to the wider team investigating Google. (Politico) "Behind the scenes, in Vestager's office on the 10th floor at the Commission's Berlaymont building, preparations for the big day had been taking place for months. A formidable communicator who places a premium on preparation, Vestager spent weeks listening to briefings by senior officials, probing the case's strengths and weaknesses, running through mock questions and preparing the responses she would deliver from the podium. "One particular concern was that the case would becomea flashpoint for transatlantic tension--potentially attracting the fury of U.S. President and tweeter-in-chief Donald Trump. "And so Vestager's office prepped figures and scripted responses so that she would be ready to debunk accusations that the Commission was unfairly targeting U.S. companies."
Which was precisely what Vestager was doing!
"On the day of the announcement, Vestager gathered the heads of Europe's 28 national competition authorities in Brussels for a meeting. The symbolism of presenting a united front, given the potentially explosive nature of the case, was striking. (Politico) "At 12:06 p.m. a smiling Vestager strode out onto the podium in the Commission's large press room, built deep into the basement of the Berlaymont. After taking a customary photo of the assembled press (and being photographed doing so), she served herself a glass of water and began: "Today, the Commission has decided to fine Google €2.4 billion ($2.8 Billion) for breaching EU antitrust rules ..." "After all her meticulous planning and secrecy, a media outlet had revealed the figure despite an agreement to wait until the official announcement. But Vestager delivered an assured performance, with characteristic touches of light humor: "Before reaching our conclusions, we have analyzed huge quantities of data. This includes 5.2 terabytes; [it] would take me more than 17,000 years to read them out." Asked about allegations of protectionism, she said: "We have heard accusations of being biased against U.S companies, so I have been going through the statistics..." "After the press conference, she joined her colleagues from the national competition authorities for lunch, where she once again presented her case. "Vestager's effort to involve the national competition authorities is telling: the Danish commissioner is aware of the need to broker support within the wider regulatory community, and she's adept at doing so. As a courtesy, MEPs following the case were told of the decision and the fine a few minutes before the public announcement.
And while Vestager did not put her decision before her fellow commissioners for full debate, as is customary, her cabinet briefed the chiefs of staff on Monday (though they did not reveal the scale of the fine).
"On Wednesday, Vestager followed up her announcement with a marquee presentation of the case to the weekly meeting of commissioners. (Politico) "It wasn't the most transparent process but it certainly shouldn't be in these cases," said one cabinet-level Commission official. "Vestager's star continues to grow brighter. Tuesday's announcement confirmed her as the Commission's stand-out performer and communicator, strengthening the consensus in Brussels that she is destined for even bigger things--perhaps at an international body like the United Nations or the International Monetary Fund, or even returning at the helm of the Commission if, as a liberal, she can ride an Emmanuel Macron-inspired wave in the 2019 European election."
Pursuing Google has certainly boosted Vestager's career. "Google has vocally rebutted Europe's charges, saying that competition for its search, advertising and other products is only a click away on the internet.(NY Times, June 16, 2017)
"The search giant also says that its services have helped consumers, advertisers and even some competitors find digital information. "The company adds that the strength of other American technology companies in Europe, including Amazon and Facebook, shows that Google has not restricted Europe's digital market. "We can't agree with a case that lacks evidence and would limit our ability to serve our users," Kent Walker, Google's general counsel, wrote in a blog post last year. "But if European competition officials get their way, experts say that Google may have to tweak its digital services to comply with regulators' demands. "That could either be limited to changes for European users, or it could extend beyond the region, depending on Google's ability to limit the region's antitrust actions to the bloc's borders."
Missing from the Google/EU antitrust story is an important factor: Google is private industry, the EU, a burgeoning unelected bureaucracy whose members rubber-stamp legislation in a push to impose on unsuspecting citizenry a One-World Government. Google is no worse than its biggest competitors. It is true that the technology giant digitalized a forever omnipresence for Barack Hussein Obama and ran both his and Hillary Clinton's election campaigns. In spite of all this, Donald Trump was still elected president. Google suspects and suspects correctly that the EU is going out of its way to punish its success. "The claim that the search giant is a nefarious monopoly worthy of heightened regulatory scrutiny amounts to arguing that they deserve to be punished for offering a superior product. Search engines aren't like water utilities or railroads where limitations on physical space create a natural monopoly. And Google didn't obtain a dominant market share by purchasing rivals or merging a bunch of separate search engines. Nothing is stopping anyone from using a rival search service if they want to, it's simply that most people choose to use Google. (Vox, July 4, 2017)
"While Google simply tells any old Googler "how tall John Wall is", the EU orders folk not to sell "bendy bananas".
It boggles the mind that while the EU should be known as the world's largest suppresser of nation sovereignty, it is recognized most for its fight against Brexit and before that, its "bendy bananas" rules. "It is in theory, possible that someone could be prosecuted for selling bendy (OK,too bendy) bananas for human consumption. And who in heck wants to live in a legal system that would allow that sort of nonsense? Well, obviously, the people who write the laws for the European Union, that's who, and there is our problem. (Forbes, May 12, 2016) The entire EU out to get Google battle can be framed in one sentence: Google is private in private industry, the EU bureaucracy is an unelected government. Ironically the best way to find out all you need to know about the EU is to just GOOGLE it. Meanwhile, signing the Citizens Against Monopoly petition circulating the 'Net is akin to signing the Internet over to the European Union.

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Judi McLeod is an award-winning journalist with 30 years’ experience in the print media. A former Toronto Sun columnist, she also worked for the Kingston Whig Standard. Her work has appeared on Rush Limbaugh, Newsmax.com, Drudge Report, Foxnews.com.

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