Insider Chatter by Donna Bogatin

Google vs. Microsoft at the DOJ?

Oh, the monopolistic irony of it all. NOT a Microsoft irony, however, a Googley one!

Yes, the big bad Microsoft monopolist is not looking so scary anymore. Google’s new age monopoly style is another monopolistic story though.

I have called Google the “friendly monopolist.” How so?

Microsoft’s “Evil Empire” financial success was derived from cunning ecosystem manipulation and brutal industry intimidation aimed solely at creating and extending Microsoft monopoly pricing power.

What really sealed Microsoft’s monopoly fate, however, was a no holds barred, take no prisoners modus operandi. Thanks to Bill Gates’ dogged persistence and shrewd maneuvering, Microsoft achieved the industry domination he sought, no matter who or what tried to cross Microsoft en route to unrivaled economic power and world glory.

Today’s technology power house, ”Do No Evil” Google, is no different, in desire or effect. In fact, Google power is even more insidious, because Google has the “consumer” on it side, as well as the overwhelming majority of bloggers, as the “conversation” on Google’s latest privacy “flap” can attest to!

DOJ Friend to Microsoft, NOT Google? I reported Saturday, citing unofficially confirmed, but widely reported “news” that Google has filed a formal complaint with the Justice Department aimed at weakening Microsoft power on the desktop to make (more) room for Google Desktop.

While mainstream media once more paints Microsoft a bully, and subsequent derivative press happily seconds the emotion, Google actually appears to be doing the bullying.

What is $160 billion dollar market cap new age Google’s “beef” with $ 290 billion market cap old school Microsoft?

Microsoft’s Windows Vista operating-system software puts rivals at a disadvantage in violation of Microsoft’s antitrust settlement, says Google. Specifically, Google complains that the latest version of Microsoft’s dominant Windows operating system makes it hard for consumers to use rival desktop-search applications, such as Google Desktop.

This is not the first time that domainant Internet powerhouse Google has, disingenuously, sought government support in its competitive battle with Microsoft to achieve its desired ultimate control of the world’s computing environments.

Does it not seem like just yesterday that Google’s ordinarily congenial vice president for search products, Marissa Mayer, complained “We don’t think it’s right for Microsoft to just set the default to MSN.”

It was actually one year ago, and despite Google’s attempts to portray Microsoft as an anti-competitive IE7 bully in Internet search before the U.S. Justice Department, the antitrust authorities determined “Internet Explorer 7 includes a relatively straightforward method for the user to select a different search engine.”

At the time, the New York Times wrote in “New Microsoft browser raises Google’s hackles”:

“Microsoft insists it has no intention of deploying its browser as a weapon in the search wars. But Google suspects otherwise.” It is Google, in fact, that is now deploying the Microsoft browser as its own weapon in the search wars.

Internet Explorer 7 “Optimized for Google,” that is.

The present Google plea to Justice for competitive Desktop justice (for Google) is once again not only self-serving, but also weak on the legal front.

Contrary to the DOJ is (now) in the Microsoft camp tale spun by The New York Times, if Thomas Barnett, assistant attorney general, has indeed rejected the Google allegations it is not becasue Justice is not on Google’s side, it is because the law is on Microsoft’s side, on this one.

Bradford Smith, Microsoft General Counsel on the status of Vista: An independent technical committee that works for the Justice Department and the states spent years examining Vista for possible anti-competitive problems before it went on sale.

“We’ve made a decision to go the extra mile to be reasonable,” Smith assserts.

Reasonable for Microsoft, however, does not mean going all the extra miles it would take to reach the Googleplex.

ALSO: Google 18 month Consumer Data Trap

CONTACT DONNA BOGATIN