Reuters
Fri Feb 22, 2008 kTOKYO (Reuters) - A Japanese man was arrested for trespassing this week after turning up at a high school dressed in a girl's uniform and a long wig, local police said.
Thirty-nine-year-old Tetsunori Nanpei told police he had bought the uniform over the Internet and put it on to take a stroll near the school in Saitama, north of Tokyo, on Wednesday, the daily Asahi Shimbun said.
When students standing outside the gates started to scream at the sight of him, he dashed inside the school grounds, hoping to blend in with the crowds of teenagers, the paper said.
They also screamed, forcing the man to flee, losing his wig in the process. A school clerk pursued him and stopped him at a nearby riverbank, the paper said.
Police confirmed the arrest of the man in school uniform and wig but declined to give further details.
(Reporting by Isabel Reynolds; Editing by Alex Richardson)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Saturday, February 23, 2008
Friday, February 22, 2008
Briton jailed for urinating on Latvian monument...
Reuters
Latvian soldiers march during a rehearsal in front of the freedom monument in Riga May 5, 2005. REUTERS/Pawel Kopczynski
Wed Feb 20, 2008 RIGA (Reuters) - A British man was sentenced to five days' detention on Tuesday for urinating on one of Latvia's most treasured monuments.
A court official said the Briton, who denied the charges, would serve his detention in a police cell after being found guilty of urinating on the Freedom Monument.
Erected in 1935, this is a 42-meter (138 ft) high symbol of the Baltic state's resistance to foreign rule, which has included 50 years of Soviet occupation.
People detained for acts of disrespect in the past have been fined. One man wearing a kilt uncovered his genitals at the monument last year.
(Reporting by Patrick Lannin; editing by Robert Woodward)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Latvian soldiers march during a rehearsal in front of the freedom monument in Riga May 5, 2005. REUTERS/Pawel KopczynskiWed Feb 20, 2008 RIGA (Reuters) - A British man was sentenced to five days' detention on Tuesday for urinating on one of Latvia's most treasured monuments.
A court official said the Briton, who denied the charges, would serve his detention in a police cell after being found guilty of urinating on the Freedom Monument.
Erected in 1935, this is a 42-meter (138 ft) high symbol of the Baltic state's resistance to foreign rule, which has included 50 years of Soviet occupation.
People detained for acts of disrespect in the past have been fined. One man wearing a kilt uncovered his genitals at the monument last year.
(Reporting by Patrick Lannin; editing by Robert Woodward)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Friday, February 15, 2008
How deep is your love? Passion phones know...
Reuters
Thu Feb 14, 2008 SEOUL (Reuters) - Valentines Day in South Korea means chocolates, romantic dinners and a high-tech mobile phone device that can secretly check the passion in the voice of a lover.
The "Love Detector" service from mobile operator KTF uses technology that is supposed to analyze voice patterns to see if a lover is speaking honestly and with affection.
"We created this service because we thought people would want to know what others were feeling about them," said Ahn Hee-jung, a KTF official.
Users who speak by pointing their mobile phones at themselves for video conferences can see a "love meter" bar on the screen of their handset during a conversation.
They later receive an analysis of the conversation delivered through text message that breaks down the amount of affection, surprise, concentration and honesty of the other speaker.
The service costs subscribers a flat fee of 1,500 won ($1.59) a month for unlimited use or can be accessed at 300 won for each call, KTF said.
"The caller is paying the money, so the information is provided only to him or her," said Ahn.
(Reporting by Lee Jiyeon; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by David Fogarty)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Thu Feb 14, 2008 SEOUL (Reuters) - Valentines Day in South Korea means chocolates, romantic dinners and a high-tech mobile phone device that can secretly check the passion in the voice of a lover.
The "Love Detector" service from mobile operator KTF uses technology that is supposed to analyze voice patterns to see if a lover is speaking honestly and with affection.
"We created this service because we thought people would want to know what others were feeling about them," said Ahn Hee-jung, a KTF official.
Users who speak by pointing their mobile phones at themselves for video conferences can see a "love meter" bar on the screen of their handset during a conversation.
They later receive an analysis of the conversation delivered through text message that breaks down the amount of affection, surprise, concentration and honesty of the other speaker.
The service costs subscribers a flat fee of 1,500 won ($1.59) a month for unlimited use or can be accessed at 300 won for each call, KTF said.
"The caller is paying the money, so the information is provided only to him or her," said Ahn.
(Reporting by Lee Jiyeon; Writing by Jon Herskovitz; Editing by David Fogarty)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Internet sex auction sparks paternity row...
Reuters
Wed Feb 13, 2008. BERLIN (Reuters) - A woman in Germany who became pregnant after an online sex auction has won a court battle to force the Web site that hosted the sale to reveal the names of the winners, so she can find out who's the father.
Six different men won Internet auctions to have sex with the woman in April and May last year. They were only known to her by their online names, a spokesman for a court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart said Wednesday.
"The woman wanted to discover which one of the men had made her pregnant," the spokesman said. "So she needed their contact details. Of course, if they're not willing to go along with the gene test, she'll have to take them to court."
The woman asked the site's operator to reveal the true identity of the men, but it refused, citing a confidentiality clause in its terms and conditions.
The court ruled in her favor, saying the child's right to know who its father was took precedence.
The court declined to give the woman's age and nationality.
(Reporting by Dave Graham, Editing by Matthew Jones)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Wed Feb 13, 2008. BERLIN (Reuters) - A woman in Germany who became pregnant after an online sex auction has won a court battle to force the Web site that hosted the sale to reveal the names of the winners, so she can find out who's the father.
Six different men won Internet auctions to have sex with the woman in April and May last year. They were only known to her by their online names, a spokesman for a court in the southwestern city of Stuttgart said Wednesday.
"The woman wanted to discover which one of the men had made her pregnant," the spokesman said. "So she needed their contact details. Of course, if they're not willing to go along with the gene test, she'll have to take them to court."
The woman asked the site's operator to reveal the true identity of the men, but it refused, citing a confidentiality clause in its terms and conditions.
The court ruled in her favor, saying the child's right to know who its father was took precedence.
The court declined to give the woman's age and nationality.
(Reporting by Dave Graham, Editing by Matthew Jones)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
Microsoft Issues Vista, XP Service Pack Blockers...
PC World By Gregg Keizer, Computerworld
Friday, December 07, 2007 5:00 PM PST
Microsoft Corp. posted a tool to its download site today that will block automatic installations of several upcoming service packs, including Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP SP3.
The Windows Service Pack Blocker ToolKit blocking tools are designed for businesses, particularly large corporations and organizations that require extensive testing before they deploy a service pack or operating system upgrade.
The download includes three versions of the tool -- an executable, a script and a group policy template -- that prevents the service packs from reaching PCs via Windows Update, Microsoft's default update service.
The tool blocks Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP SP3 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 for varying lengths of time. Vista SP1 and XP SP3 can be blocked for as long as 12 months after the service packs are released in final form, while the Server 2003 SP2 blocker bars the download only through March 2008.
Vista SP1, which enters public testing Tuesday, is scheduled to wrap up in the first quarter of 2008. Windows XP SP3, on the other hand, has a delivery date of sometime in the first half of next year.
Microsoft has offered similar blockers before, most recently one last year that kept Internet Explorer 7 from automatically installing on Windows XP systems. The tool lets all other updates, including monthly security patches, pass through Windows Update without modification.
Microsoft also plans to unveil Office 2007 SP1 next week, but has said nothing about a blocker for the suite update.
Friday, December 07, 2007 5:00 PM PST
Microsoft Corp. posted a tool to its download site today that will block automatic installations of several upcoming service packs, including Vista Service Pack 1 and Windows XP SP3.
The Windows Service Pack Blocker ToolKit blocking tools are designed for businesses, particularly large corporations and organizations that require extensive testing before they deploy a service pack or operating system upgrade.
The download includes three versions of the tool -- an executable, a script and a group policy template -- that prevents the service packs from reaching PCs via Windows Update, Microsoft's default update service.
The tool blocks Windows Vista SP1, Windows XP SP3 and Windows Server 2003 SP2 for varying lengths of time. Vista SP1 and XP SP3 can be blocked for as long as 12 months after the service packs are released in final form, while the Server 2003 SP2 blocker bars the download only through March 2008.
Vista SP1, which enters public testing Tuesday, is scheduled to wrap up in the first quarter of 2008. Windows XP SP3, on the other hand, has a delivery date of sometime in the first half of next year.
Microsoft has offered similar blockers before, most recently one last year that kept Internet Explorer 7 from automatically installing on Windows XP systems. The tool lets all other updates, including monthly security patches, pass through Windows Update without modification.
Microsoft also plans to unveil Office 2007 SP1 next week, but has said nothing about a blocker for the suite update.
More than 100 cats rescued from Olympics site...
Reuters
<--- A kitten peers out from a sidewalk at Bangkok's Lumpini Park February 20, 2004. More than 160 feral cats and kittens have been rescued from the site of the London 2012 Olympics as demolition work continues at a pace. REUTERS/Adrees Latif
Fri Feb 8, 2008. LONDON (Reuters) - More than 160 feral cats and kittens have been rescued from the site of the London 2012 Olympics as demolition work continues at a pace.
A local animal charity has been allowed access to the site to ensure the safety of the cats that have taken refuge in the various industrial buildings that are being bulldozed.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) said Friday that 168 animals had been discovered and were now in the care of the Celia Hammond Animal Trust.
The ODA, which has also re-housed newts, frogs and fish from the east London site, said demolition work was expected to be completed in March with construction on the main venues beginning later this year.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Clare Lovell)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
<--- A kitten peers out from a sidewalk at Bangkok's Lumpini Park February 20, 2004. More than 160 feral cats and kittens have been rescued from the site of the London 2012 Olympics as demolition work continues at a pace. REUTERS/Adrees LatifFri Feb 8, 2008. LONDON (Reuters) - More than 160 feral cats and kittens have been rescued from the site of the London 2012 Olympics as demolition work continues at a pace.
A local animal charity has been allowed access to the site to ensure the safety of the cats that have taken refuge in the various industrial buildings that are being bulldozed.
The Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) said Friday that 168 animals had been discovered and were now in the care of the Celia Hammond Animal Trust.
The ODA, which has also re-housed newts, frogs and fish from the east London site, said demolition work was expected to be completed in March with construction on the main venues beginning later this year.
(Reporting by Martyn Herman, editing by Clare Lovell)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Monday, February 11, 2008
Microsoft bows to demand for standalone Outlook...
ZDNet Australia By Colin Barker, ZDNet UK
11 February 2008. In response to what it claims is "popular demand", Microsoft has introduced a standalone version of its contacts and email package, Outlook, the company announced on Wednesday.
Outlook is used by companies large and small for managing everything from addresses to personal and public contacts, but the application is generally used as part of a corporate network in conjuction with the Exchange server product. Now, Microsoft thinks many people would like to use the same tool at home that they find so indispensable at work.
According to Takeshi Numoto, general manager of Microsoft Office 2007: "Currently, many small and home-based businesses keep their contacts in several different places -- some in [their address books], some in spreadsheets. We understand the importance of good customer management and are providing simple and affordable solutions to help small businesses centralise their customer information."
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 is only available at present in the US where it will retail for around US$149.95.
Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager, as the product will be known, should make it easier for people in small businesses to track sales and marketing activities in one place, the company said.
It is generally sold as part of the Microsoft Office suite with Powerpoint, Excel and Word, but the standalone version may appeal to those who would like to use different kinds of applications. This may also find a market of individuals who have become used to having Outlook at work and would like to easily transfer details from that system to their system at home.
In the past, Microsoft has offered a cut-down version of Outlook, known as Outlook Express, pre-installed on most new Windows PCs. In 2003 Microsoft claimed that it would no longer be developing Outlook Express, but then backtracked. Windows Vista comes bundled with an email client known as Windows Mail, seen as the successor to Outlook Express and aimed at home users
11 February 2008. In response to what it claims is "popular demand", Microsoft has introduced a standalone version of its contacts and email package, Outlook, the company announced on Wednesday.
Outlook is used by companies large and small for managing everything from addresses to personal and public contacts, but the application is generally used as part of a corporate network in conjuction with the Exchange server product. Now, Microsoft thinks many people would like to use the same tool at home that they find so indispensable at work.
According to Takeshi Numoto, general manager of Microsoft Office 2007: "Currently, many small and home-based businesses keep their contacts in several different places -- some in [their address books], some in spreadsheets. We understand the importance of good customer management and are providing simple and affordable solutions to help small businesses centralise their customer information."
Microsoft Office Outlook 2007 is only available at present in the US where it will retail for around US$149.95.
Office Outlook 2007 with Business Contact Manager, as the product will be known, should make it easier for people in small businesses to track sales and marketing activities in one place, the company said.
It is generally sold as part of the Microsoft Office suite with Powerpoint, Excel and Word, but the standalone version may appeal to those who would like to use different kinds of applications. This may also find a market of individuals who have become used to having Outlook at work and would like to easily transfer details from that system to their system at home.
In the past, Microsoft has offered a cut-down version of Outlook, known as Outlook Express, pre-installed on most new Windows PCs. In 2003 Microsoft claimed that it would no longer be developing Outlook Express, but then backtracked. Windows Vista comes bundled with an email client known as Windows Mail, seen as the successor to Outlook Express and aimed at home users
Thursday, February 07, 2008
Head lice came with us out of Africa: study...
Reuters By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Editor
Wed Feb 6, 2008. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Head lice taken from 1,000-year-old mummies in Peru support the idea that the little creatures accompanied humans on their first migration out of Africa, 100,000 years ago, researchers reported Wednesday.
Genetic tests showed the lice are nearly identical to strains found around the world that have been dated to when humans first began to colonize the rest of the world.
"It tells us that this genetic type got around the globe right as humans spread and migrated around the globe," said David Reed of the University of Florida, who worked on the study.
"We know that this parasite was distributed all over the globe along with us," Reed said in a telephone interview.
Writing in Journal of Infectious Diseases, Reed and colleagues noted that there are three known strains, or clades, of head lice -- A, B and C.
Clade A is found everywhere, clade B is common in both North America and Europe, and clade C is rare. There had been a theory that clade B evolved separately in the Americas and that European explorers carried A to the Americas and brought B back to Europe with them.
Reed, who showed in 2004 that clade A dated back to early humans, said he got to test the idea by accident.
The lice were collected off the heads of two mummies found in the southern Peruvian coastal desert. "The mummies belonged to the post-Tiwanaku Chiribaya culture," the researchers wrote. They were dated to around 1000 AD.
The two heads, removed from the bodies by looters years before, had elaborately braided hair. Researchers collected more than 400 head lice from one and 500 from the other.
"They were loaded. It was amazing," Reed said. "It really was remarkable how lousy they were."
He speculated that the elaborate braids would not allow for regular combing, thus making a haven for the little parasites.
Reed was able to get intact DNA from the lice and sequencing showed they were all clade A.
That means the strain was distributed across the Americas hundreds of years before the first Europeans arrived.
Reed believes he can use gene sequencing of lice to track and date human migrations all over the world.
Type A lice include both head and body lice. The bloodsucking creatures can only live on humans -- they die very quickly away from their hosts and cannot survive on any other animals.
They can also transmit diseases such as typhus. Reed believes some mummified lice will carry the rickettsia bacteria that transmit typhus, and gene sequencing of these bacteria can also help trace routes of human migration.
It is also possible to test the theory that typhus was a New World disease carried back to Europe by explorers, Reed said.
(Editing by Stuart Grudgings)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserve
Wed Feb 6, 2008. WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Head lice taken from 1,000-year-old mummies in Peru support the idea that the little creatures accompanied humans on their first migration out of Africa, 100,000 years ago, researchers reported Wednesday.
Genetic tests showed the lice are nearly identical to strains found around the world that have been dated to when humans first began to colonize the rest of the world.
"It tells us that this genetic type got around the globe right as humans spread and migrated around the globe," said David Reed of the University of Florida, who worked on the study.
"We know that this parasite was distributed all over the globe along with us," Reed said in a telephone interview.
Writing in Journal of Infectious Diseases, Reed and colleagues noted that there are three known strains, or clades, of head lice -- A, B and C.
Clade A is found everywhere, clade B is common in both North America and Europe, and clade C is rare. There had been a theory that clade B evolved separately in the Americas and that European explorers carried A to the Americas and brought B back to Europe with them.
Reed, who showed in 2004 that clade A dated back to early humans, said he got to test the idea by accident.
The lice were collected off the heads of two mummies found in the southern Peruvian coastal desert. "The mummies belonged to the post-Tiwanaku Chiribaya culture," the researchers wrote. They were dated to around 1000 AD.
The two heads, removed from the bodies by looters years before, had elaborately braided hair. Researchers collected more than 400 head lice from one and 500 from the other.
"They were loaded. It was amazing," Reed said. "It really was remarkable how lousy they were."
He speculated that the elaborate braids would not allow for regular combing, thus making a haven for the little parasites.
Reed was able to get intact DNA from the lice and sequencing showed they were all clade A.
That means the strain was distributed across the Americas hundreds of years before the first Europeans arrived.
Reed believes he can use gene sequencing of lice to track and date human migrations all over the world.
Type A lice include both head and body lice. The bloodsucking creatures can only live on humans -- they die very quickly away from their hosts and cannot survive on any other animals.
They can also transmit diseases such as typhus. Reed believes some mummified lice will carry the rickettsia bacteria that transmit typhus, and gene sequencing of these bacteria can also help trace routes of human migration.
It is also possible to test the theory that typhus was a New World disease carried back to Europe by explorers, Reed said.
(Editing by Stuart Grudgings)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserve
Man convicted of sending penis photo by phone...
Reuters
Wed Feb 6, 2008. BERLIN (Reuters) - A 21-year-old German man has been convicted of sending a photograph of his penis to an unknown woman via mobile phone, authorities said on Wednesday.
"We all had a bit of a laugh when we saw the thing," said Christian Kropp, presiding judge at the court in the eastern town of Sondershausen.
The woman reported the sender to police after receiving the photo attachment of the man's genitals, the court said. Officers found evidence he may have sent similar images to other women.
The man did not explain his motive but expressed remorse for the photo, Kropp said. He was fined 150 euros ($220) for distributing pornographic material.
(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Catherine Evans)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Wed Feb 6, 2008. BERLIN (Reuters) - A 21-year-old German man has been convicted of sending a photograph of his penis to an unknown woman via mobile phone, authorities said on Wednesday.
"We all had a bit of a laugh when we saw the thing," said Christian Kropp, presiding judge at the court in the eastern town of Sondershausen.
The woman reported the sender to police after receiving the photo attachment of the man's genitals, the court said. Officers found evidence he may have sent similar images to other women.
The man did not explain his motive but expressed remorse for the photo, Kropp said. He was fined 150 euros ($220) for distributing pornographic material.
(Reporting by Dave Graham; Editing by Catherine Evans)
© Reuters 2008 All rights reserved
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
Google launches its ‘let’s annoy Microsoft’ plan: Pings Yahoo and works regulators...
ZDNet.com Posted by Larry Dignan
February 3rd, 2008 Google has reportedly reached out to Yahoo to thwart Microsoft’s unsolicited $44.6 billion bid. And in case that doesn’t work Google has already started working policymakers.
Simply put, the games have begun (Techmeme). Get ready for the FUD fest folks. As noted on Friday just a few hours after Microsoft went public with its Yahoo bid Google will play a big role in this saga.
For starters, Google is Yahoo’s best defense if it doesn’t want to be acquired by Microsoft. All Yahoo has to do is outsource its search to Google–a move that would be financially beneficial to CEO Jerry Yang and Co.–and it gives Microsoft second thoughts.
According to the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, Google CEO Eric Schmidt called Yahoo’s Yang to offer help to fend off Microsoft. The motives are obvious:
Google would love to force Microsoft to pay more;
Google wants to head Microsoft off at the pass since a combined Microsoft-Yahoo could be a search threat;
Microsoft bitched and moaned about Google’s DoubleClick acquisition.
While it’s not likely that Google could get the regulators to swallow a Yahoo purchase the search giant can still raise a ruckus. Google could even bid for giggles–or help fund an effort to take Yahoo private.That latter point is important. What if Google helped fund a white-knight bidder? It would make total sense. And there would be a nice bonus–if Yahoo goes private the first thing the new owners would do is outsource search to Google.
For now it appears that Google is launching a two front war. First, Google wants to help Yahoo disrupt Microsoft. And if that effort fails Google is going to make damn sure regulators look closely at this deal.
The regulator spin has already begun as Google broke out the open Internet card. In a blog post Sunday, David Drummond, senior vice president and corporate legal offer said:
Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It’s about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.
Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies — and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets.
Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft — despite its legacy of serious legal and regulatory offenses — to extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet? In addition, Microsoft plus Yahoo! equals an overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email accounts. And between them, the two companies operate the two most heavily trafficked portals on the Internet. Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors’ email, IM, and web-based services? Policymakers around the world need to ask these questions — and consumers deserve satisfying answers.
Talk about a game of Monopoly.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, didn’t mince words either.
The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising. The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet.
Today, Google is the dominant search engine and advertising company on the Web. Google has amassed about 75 percent of paid search revenues worldwide and its share continues to grow. According to published reports, Google currently has more than 65 percent search query share in the U.S. and more than 85 percent in Europe. Microsoft and Yahoo! on the other hand have roughly 30 percent combined in the U.S. and approximately 10 percent combined in Europe.
Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet. We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will advance these goals.
Add it up and you have a monopoly pissing match with Google and its search dominance in one corner and Microsoft and its Windows market share in the other. Pick your poison.
February 3rd, 2008 Google has reportedly reached out to Yahoo to thwart Microsoft’s unsolicited $44.6 billion bid. And in case that doesn’t work Google has already started working policymakers.
Simply put, the games have begun (Techmeme). Get ready for the FUD fest folks. As noted on Friday just a few hours after Microsoft went public with its Yahoo bid Google will play a big role in this saga.
For starters, Google is Yahoo’s best defense if it doesn’t want to be acquired by Microsoft. All Yahoo has to do is outsource its search to Google–a move that would be financially beneficial to CEO Jerry Yang and Co.–and it gives Microsoft second thoughts.
According to the Wall Street Journal and Reuters, Google CEO Eric Schmidt called Yahoo’s Yang to offer help to fend off Microsoft. The motives are obvious:
Google would love to force Microsoft to pay more;
Google wants to head Microsoft off at the pass since a combined Microsoft-Yahoo could be a search threat;
Microsoft bitched and moaned about Google’s DoubleClick acquisition.
While it’s not likely that Google could get the regulators to swallow a Yahoo purchase the search giant can still raise a ruckus. Google could even bid for giggles–or help fund an effort to take Yahoo private.That latter point is important. What if Google helped fund a white-knight bidder? It would make total sense. And there would be a nice bonus–if Yahoo goes private the first thing the new owners would do is outsource search to Google.
For now it appears that Google is launching a two front war. First, Google wants to help Yahoo disrupt Microsoft. And if that effort fails Google is going to make damn sure regulators look closely at this deal.
The regulator spin has already begun as Google broke out the open Internet card. In a blog post Sunday, David Drummond, senior vice president and corporate legal offer said:
Microsoft’s hostile bid for Yahoo! raises troubling questions. This is about more than simply a financial transaction, one company taking over another. It’s about preserving the underlying principles of the Internet: openness and innovation.
Could Microsoft now attempt to exert the same sort of inappropriate and illegal influence over the Internet that it did with the PC? While the Internet rewards competitive innovation, Microsoft has frequently sought to establish proprietary monopolies — and then leverage its dominance into new, adjacent markets.
Could the acquisition of Yahoo! allow Microsoft — despite its legacy of serious legal and regulatory offenses — to extend unfair practices from browsers and operating systems to the Internet? In addition, Microsoft plus Yahoo! equals an overwhelming share of instant messaging and web email accounts. And between them, the two companies operate the two most heavily trafficked portals on the Internet. Could a combination of the two take advantage of a PC software monopoly to unfairly limit the ability of consumers to freely access competitors’ email, IM, and web-based services? Policymakers around the world need to ask these questions — and consumers deserve satisfying answers.
Talk about a game of Monopoly.
Brad Smith, Microsoft’s general counsel, didn’t mince words either.
The combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will create a more competitive marketplace by establishing a compelling number two competitor for Internet search and online advertising. The alternative scenarios only lead to less competition on the Internet.
Today, Google is the dominant search engine and advertising company on the Web. Google has amassed about 75 percent of paid search revenues worldwide and its share continues to grow. According to published reports, Google currently has more than 65 percent search query share in the U.S. and more than 85 percent in Europe. Microsoft and Yahoo! on the other hand have roughly 30 percent combined in the U.S. and approximately 10 percent combined in Europe.
Microsoft is committed to openness, innovation, and the protection of privacy on the Internet. We believe that the combination of Microsoft and Yahoo! will advance these goals.
Add it up and you have a monopoly pissing match with Google and its search dominance in one corner and Microsoft and its Windows market share in the other. Pick your poison.
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