Net+Neutrality

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

Google’s ‘Total Information Awareness’ Power

June 12, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

A one-page graphic of all the information Google has…

To help you picture both the enormity and unprecedented power of what Google knows about you and the world’s information—public, private and proprietary—I have organized all the world’s information types that Google collects onto a one-page chart/PDF: “Google’s ‘Total Information Awareness’ Power.”

For those who really want to understand Google and its impact on most everyone and most everything, please read and study this one-page chart/PDF, because much valuable work and insight has gone into it.

While the chart is visually packed with information that many may find difficult to unpack or digest, the chart itself is an apt metaphor for both how much information Google has, and also how difficult it is for all of us to get our head around all the information Google routinely collects and uses.

A short refresher on where the term “Total Information Awareness” came from and why it is aptly employed here.
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Google’s ‘Total Information Awareness’ Power”

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

FCC Exceptionalism and Supremacy?

June 5, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

Often stepping back to gain perspective, and to try and see the forest for the trees can be highly instructive. However, if one steps back to see the big picture of how this FCC is attempting, unilaterally, to change U.S. Internet policy, the view is surreal.

Increasingly, this FCC is becoming an island. It is insisting on self-asserting its exceptionalism and its supremacy over the Internet and It is ignoring an overwhelming amount of important and contrary input, advice and evidence from Congress, the Courts, DOJ, FTC, past FCCs, industry and the public.

Simply, this FCC increasingly appears to view itself as exceptional and as the supreme authority on and over the Internet, unconstrained by Congress, the courts, law, economics, markets or the public.
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FCC Exceptionalism and Supremacy?”

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Google - Government - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

FTC’s Google-AdMob Antitrust Checklist

May 17, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

Many are missing the forest for the trees in jumping to the conclusion that the two-week extension in the FTC’s review of Google-AdMob means the FTC is reconsidering the FTC’s staff recommendation to block Google-AdMob as anti-competitive.

Google is cleverly trying to misdirect the focus off Google being the actual #2 in-app mobile advertiser, which is buying the actual #1 AdMob market leader, by talking up the potential competitive advertising threat of a distant #3 player Quattro being bought by non-advertising company Apple.

To see the big picture and understand the likely outcome here that the FTC will block Google-AdMob, its helpful to run through the FTC’s likely Google-AdMob checklist decision process.
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FTC’s Google-AdMob Antitrust Checklist”

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Congress - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

FCC Understating Systemic Risks of “Third Way” — Why It’s a Disaster Waiting to Happen

May 11, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

The FCC is vastly understating the systemic risk involved in the FCC’s radical “third way” regulatory surgery to the Internet, the communications sector and the economy.

The FCC’s proposed “third way” is an elaborate public relations facade that disguises huge problems and fatal conceptual/practical flaws that will become painfully obvious over time.

The FCC’s proposal is long on politics and soothing rhetoric, but short on real world practicality or legitimacy; it predictably will ultimately collapse under its own weight, complexity and hubris — unfortunately leaving exceptional carnage in its wake.

Simply, this proposal is too inherently contradictory and mind-numbingly complex, and too big not to fail.
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FCC Understating Systemic Risks of “Third Way” — Why It’s a Disaster Waiting to Happen”

Computers - Congress - Google - Government - Inernet - Liberals - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

The Multi-Billion Dollar Impact of FCC Title II Broadband — for Google & Entire Internet Ecosystem

May 7, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

Investors understandably have focused first on whether or not the FCC will upend the broadband Internet sector by deeming broadband a Title II common carrier service for the first time, and second whether or not the FCC actually has the legal/constitutional authority to do so.

However, as a result of that political and legal focus, what has been almost completely ignored is the potential multi-billion dollar impact of such an FCC decision, which by definition, would make all currently unregulated and un-metered Internet traffic bits, regulated and metered “telecommunications” tele-bits for the first time.

Simply, deeming broadband Title II legally could compel bit metering and bit payments in the U.S. for the first time.
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The Multi-Billion Dollar Impact of FCC Title II Broadband — for Google & Entire Internet Ecosystem”

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Democrats/Leftists - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Google - Government - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

Chart: How Google-AdMob Creates a Bottleneck; How New DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines Affect the Deal

May 4, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

Given the FTC is very likely to disapprove Google’s acquisition of AdMob soon, I have prepared a one-page chart that illustrates the core reason the deal is anti-competitive: it would create a substantial bottleneck for advertisers and publishers entering the in-application mobile advertising market.

To help people get up to speed on the deal and the likely FTC disapproval coming up, I have also pulled together a 30-page Google-AdMob backgrounder, which includes a one-page summary, charts, the top 10 reasons the deal is anti-competitive, why Google is a monopoly, how Google has abused its monopoly and why Google’s main antitrust defenses, like “competition is one click away,” are specious.

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Chart: How Google-AdMob Creates a Bottleneck; How New DOJ/FTC Merger Guidelines Affect the Deal”

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

Google’s Liability Decade: Why Google’s Leadership Ducks Investors

April 30, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

The abrupt change, that Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt will no longer be accountable to shareholders on Google’s earnings calls, should prompt investors to ask why?

Google claimed that they wanted to put more focus on Google’s strong financials, but they did not disclose any more than Google’s usual barest minimum of information to investors. The most obvious reason for this abrupt change is the literal explosion of real franchise liabilities and risk overhangs to Google that reared their ugly heads this past quarter. Had CEO Schmidt been available to answer investor questions, Google’s exploding liabilities could have dominated the Q&A and the investment narrative coming out of the earnings call.

What has changed, and what Google has been not been open about, is the very serious ripening of three different types of going-forward franchise risks (antitrust, privacy/security and intellectual property) that cumulatively herald a de facto change in Google eras: from the roaring “Growth Decade” of 2000-2009, to the more unpredictable “Liability Decade” of 2010- 2019.
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Google’s Liability Decade: Why Google’s Leadership Ducks Investors”

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

Why FCC’s broadband public option is a lose-lose gamble

April 27, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

The FCC would be making a longshot, bet-the-farm gamble, if it decided to mandate the broadband public option, i.e., deeming broadband to be a common-carrier-regulated service and regulating the Internet essentially for the first time.

It would be a classic lose-lose gamble because the FCC is very likely to lose in court — accomplishing nothing, but damaging the hard-built trust, cooperation and commitment necessary for public-private partnerships to be able to get broadband to all Americans fastest. Also everyone else would lose from the irreparable damage to private broadband investment, innovation, growth, jobs and America’s broadband ranking in the world.

I. Lose in Court:

It is a given that the FCC would be sued; and it is very likely that the Appeals Court and/or the Supreme Court would overturn any FCC unilateral assertion of authority to deem broadband a common carrier service. It is also likely that the court would stay such an FCC action from going into effect because of the likelihood of the petitioners winning on appeal and because of the easy case that it would cause irreparable harm.
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Why FCC’s broadband public option is a lose-lose gamble”

Business - Capitalism - Computers - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Taxes - Technology

FCC deeming broadband to be regulated opens Pandora’s Box

April 16, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

Proponents of the FCC asserting new “deeming authority,” to “deem” broadband to be a regulated phone service and thus subject to the FCC’s existing Title II telephone authority, have not even begun to answer the most fundamental questions of what such a foundational change would mean.

Premature characterizations that this nouvelle, regulatory “deeming” would somehow be easy, clean or containable, simply have not thought through the potential chaos, havoc and uncertainty that such a radical, foundational and over-reaching regulatory “deeming” would wreak on:

  • Legal/policy precedent, clarity and stability;
  • Business investment and innovation — assumptions, incentives, models and practices;
  • Economic growth, private investment and job creation;
  • Industry financial stability, contracts and debt covenants; and
  • Trust, cooperation and respect the FCC needs to fulfill its mission and its National Broadband Plan.

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FCC deeming broadband to be regulated opens Pandora’s Box”

Budget - Business - Capitalism - Computers - Economy/Finances - Google - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Taxes - Technology - YouTube

GBC: Google Broadcasting Co. — World Unicaster

March 24, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

First there was one-to-many broadcasting, then many-to-many Internet narrowcasting… now it appears we are moving next to a one-to-many GoogleNet unicasting future where every company and individual may simply become a subordinate channel on the Googleopoly advertising network, and where content largely would be found only via Google’s mono-search guide.

To better understand this troubling ongoing transformation, connect the dots below:

Google TV:

  • NYT: “Google and partners take aim at the TV;” “The move is an effort by Google and Intel to extend their dominance of computing into television, an arena where they have little sway.”
  • WSJ

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GBC: Google Broadcasting Co. — World Unicaster”

Budget - Business - Computers - Democrats/Leftists - Google - Government - Inernet - Liberals - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

FTC now very likely to oppose Google-AdMob

March 16, 2010 by 1 Comment

-By Scott Cleland

The FTC is now very likely to file an injunction in Federal Court to block Google’s proposed acquisition of AdMob, if Google does not walk away from the deal, given that Bloomberg reports that the FTC is “seeking sworn declarations from Google Inc. competitors and advertisers.”

Why such signed declarations are particularly indicative of the likely outcome is that the FTC has moved largely from an investigative phase to largely a prosecution phase.

Given reports of signed declarations, a preliminary decision has been made by the FTC investigative staff (with the assent of, or direction from, the FTC Chairman), that the deal would “substantially lessen competition.” In other words, the FTC staff believe the deal would be a violation of antitrust law.

Remember, neither the FTC nor competitors/advertisers take lightly the signing of legal declarations about what would be said under oath in a court of law under the penalty of perjury.
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FTC now very likely to oppose Google-AdMob”

Budget - Business - Capitalism - Computers - Democrats/Leftists - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Liberals - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

Google-AdMob: An FTC Antitrust Enforcement Watershed — Lessons from Google-DoubleClick & EU

March 9, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

Will the FTC strictly enforce antitrust laws in its review of Google’s AdMob acquisition? Google-Admob is a watershed decision for the FTC given that Google recently blew off the DOJ’s serious antitrust objections to the pending Google Book Settlement; The EU opened a preliminary investigation of antitrust complaints against Google from companies in the UK, France and Germany; and The DOJ had to play backstop to the FTC and block the Google-Yahoo Ad Agreement, less than a year after the FTC incorrectly assumed in their 4-1 approval of the Google-DoubleClick deal that Yahoo and others would provide sufficient competition to Google and Google acquiring DoubleClick would not “substantially lessen competition” or tip Google to a monopoly.

A recent New York Post article: “FTC inclined to approve Google’s acquisition of AdMob” states the deal “may just squeak by federal regulators.”

It’s pretty obvious the article’s source came from the Google camp and not the FTC, given the political nature of the source’s views: the FTC “will likely not rule until Obama nominees” are confirmed by the Senate, strongly implying that the:

Administration’s close political ties with Google would trump any career staff law enforcement findings of fact or the law and the lone FTC vote against the 4-1 Google-DoubleClick deal approval, Commissioner Jones-Harbor, will no longer be at the FTC.

Why is this Google spin on the FTC’s inclination likely false?
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Google-AdMob: An FTC Antitrust Enforcement Watershed — Lessons from Google-DoubleClick & EU”

Budget - Capitalism - Computers - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Liberals - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

Foundem FCC Filing Documents Google Search Network Discrimination; Window into EU-Google Antitrust Case

March 2, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

Foundem, a UK vertical search competitor to Google, documents serial anticompetitive discrimination on Google’s search network, in a data-driven filing to the FCC in the FCC’s Open Internet regulation proceeding.

It is logical that the data-driven analysis in Foundem’s public FCC filing is an integral part of Foundem’s antitrust case against Google, which Foundem recently submitted to the EU, but which has not been released yet.

Therefore, Foundem’s FCC filing may be the best publicly available window into what the EU investigation of Google’s anticompetitive practices entails.

In essence, the Foundem filing accuses Google of monopolistic self-dealing and bundling.
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Foundem FCC Filing Documents Google Search Network Discrimination; Window into EU-Google Antitrust Case”

Budget - Business - Computers - Economy/Finances - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Taxes - Technology

How much should Google be subsidized?

February 22, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

Pending FCC policy proposals in the National Broadband Plan and the Open Internet regulation proceeding would vastly expand the implicit multi-billion dollar subsidies Google already enjoys, as by far the largest user of Internet bandwidth and the smallest contributor to the Internet’s cost relative to its use.

Interestingly, the FCC’s largely Google-driven policy proposals effectively would:

  • Promote Google’s gold-plated, 1 Gigabit broadband vision for the National Broadband Plan at a time of trillion dollar Federal budget deficits;
  • Recommend a substantial expansion of public subisidies for broadband that would commercially benefit Google most without requiring Google to contribute its fair share to universal broadband service; and
  • Regulate the Internet for the first time in a way that would result in heavily subsidizing Google’s out-of-control bandwidth usage.

I. Does Google need more subsidies?

Google is one of the most-profitable, fastest-growing, cash-rich companies in the world, with over $10b in annual free cash flow, 17% revenue growth and ~$25b in cash on hand.
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How much should Google be subsidized?”

Budget - Business - Computers - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

FCC: Forced Access Uneconomics & Selective Math?

February 19, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

The FCC just signaled it is considering requiring forced access and more special access as part of its soon to be released National Broadband Plan.

Colin Crowell, a top aide to FCC Chairman Genachowski told Bloomberg that mandating that competitors lease their facilities to other competitors “has a lot of appeal as part of a national strategy” in order to help small businesses grow and aid job creation.
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FCC: Forced Access Uneconomics & Selective Math?”

Budget - Computers - Democrats/Leftists - Free Trade - Google - Inernet - Net Neutrality - Scott Cleland - Technology

FCC Reclassification is Eminent Domain, but with No Just Compensation or Authority

February 7, 2010 by

-By Scott Cleland

At core the FCC’s contemplation of reclassifying, or effectively treating, unregulated broadband info services as regulated telecom services, would be tantamount to the FCC declaring “eminent domain” over private broadband providers, i.e. justifying a government takings of private property for public uses, but doing so “without just compensation” or any statutory authority.

The U.S. Constitution’s Fifth Amendment requires: “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”

A gaping missing element in all the FCC’s discussions of all the new “public uses” it envisions for broadband in its pending National Broadband Plan and its proposed preemptive Open Internet regulations is any consideration at all of the potential hundreds of billions of dollars of un-budgeted liability to the U.S. Treasury that could result from the takings of private network property without just compensation — at a time of skyrocketing trillion dollar Federal budget deficits and rapidly mounting public debt.

The FCC appears to be operating under the sweeping and heroic presumption that any prospective FCC regulatory action it may take here is essentially cost-free to the U.S. taxpayer and will be completely shouldered by broadband shareholders; in other words, the Fifth Amendment appears to be irrelevant to FCC decisionmaking.
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FCC Reclassification is Eminent Domain, but with No Just Compensation or Authority”