The US department that pursued Microsoft for years in monopoly-busting antitrust lawsuits is taking a close look at Google’s proposed settlement with the book industry.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) has formally notified Google and the judge overseeing the Google Books settlement of its intention to investigate based on preliminary antitrust concerns.
We’re no doubt going to be seeing a lot more of this sort of action. While earlier waves of technology have seen regulators taking on monopolies — Microsoft in the PC era, IBM in the mainframe era, and before that the AT&T break-up of the telephone network — the internet will likely see the growth of many more monopolies.
Google’s 78% marketshare in search and its enormous impact in markets such as advertising and media make it a likely target. It’s particularly interesting that the DOJ should be looking at its impact in the book market as it makes its first move against Google.
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1 Spanish publishers form ebook distributor, hope to set market’s direction // Jul 16, 2009 at 6:32 pm
[...] each wave of information technology (AT&T in the US phone market, IBM, Microsoft and probably soon Google) will be played out across many sectors as these mega-sites begin to infringe on the viability of [...]
2 The dysfunctional internet … or why Barry Colman isn’t stupid // Jul 21, 2009 at 11:22 pm
[...] we might also need to consider some regulation — especially against the internet’s propensity to create enormous global powerhouses. It’s time to start debating not just the way the internet is, but the way we want it to [...]
3 EU puts further heat on Google’s book scanning deal // Jul 22, 2009 at 9:49 pm
[...] European regulators are asking publishers for feedback on how they see the proposed Google Books settlement. The move comes soon after the US Justice Department said it was investigating Google for anti-trust concerns. [...]
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