Since our access to technology is so dominated by United States companies, it's worth keeping an eye on what's happening with regulation in the world's biggest market.
The number one news is Google now officially being ruled a monopolist. Now, the only surprising thing about that is how long it's taken for US authorities to nail down that conclusion, which everyone has been aware of for years now with court cases being launched at Google.
Judge Amit Mehta noted that Google has 90% of the online marketshare, and 95% of the smartphone equivalent, for Internet search. What's more, it has paid big to maintain that status, handing US$20 billion to Apple in 2022 to be the search engine of choice in the latter company's Safari web browser.
Enough's enough, the US has said, and now there's talk about breaking up Google. What that means remains to be seen. Will Google's Chrome web browser be spun off? Search? The Android mobile operating system for smartphones? September will tell us more, but Google isn't going to take the regulatory effort lying down, and it has a big legal war chest so expect the case to drag out for several more years.
Even so, Google is already copping consequences of being officially labelled a monopolist. Reuters is reporting that US District Court judge is planning to issue an order for Google to give Android users more ways to download apps.
This after games developer Epic, of Fortnite fame, won a monopolist case against Google.
To be clear, the law of unintended consequences could come into play here, as Google's Play App Store has a range of vetting and protection measures against malicious and harmful code. To stay safe, consumers are almost always better off getting their apps from Play rather than from elsewhere on the Internet, which is full of really bad stuff.
Regulation isn't a simple, black-and-white process, and tech giants have been carrying bogus and harmful material themselves - while making money off it.
Facebook's Marketplace for example is notorious for that, so much so that Netsafe has issued a buyer beware advisory on how to avoid getting scammed there.
If Facebook doesn't clean up its Marketplace, nobody should be surprised if regulators step in to do it for the social network.
One particularly bad and deceptive online trap for consumers is fake reviews. These hurt both consumers and honest traders, and now the US Federal Trade Commission has issued a final rule against them.
Fake reviews are everywhere, and they're big business. The FTC has now outlawed their sale and purchase, with monetary penalties for each violation of up to US$50,000.
Britain banned fake reviews two years ago, and it's high time for the US to follow suit. New Zealand takes a dim view of fake and manipulated reviews too, with the TL;DR message being very clear: don't even think about it.
2 Comments
Should Google get any credit for the good things they provide ? I use and am grateful for Google maps - streets ahead (excuse the pun) of the Maps function on my iPhone. I also downloaded Chrome to my iPhone and iPad at my election not because I was lead to it by something to with Safari. I have tried and sometimes use the Edge browser on my laptop but prefer Chrome. I hope the baby does not get thrown out etc in order for regulators to fix a “ dominance problem” that in my view as a common or garden user does not matter.
"good things they [google] provide"?? Really? Convenient doesn't = good. Do you have any idea what happens to all that personal info you are happily handing to google while you use all their "good" products? Are you aware there are alternatives to google, chrome et al?
We welcome your comments below. If you are not already registered, please register to comment.
Remember we welcome robust, respectful and insightful debate. We don't welcome abusive or defamatory comments and will de-register those repeatedly making such comments. Our current comment policy is here.