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Google Erects Cone of Silence Around Antitrust Case
- gorenb 3y agoThis is honestly disgusting. I really don't want to use google anymore. This will probably be a big win for Kagi or smth.
- robertlagrant 3y ago> The main lesson Google appears to have learned from the Microsoft antitrust case from the 1990s is that media scrutiny and bad headlines can sink a corporate defendant’s reputation, if not its case. I tend to agree with this though, and this reason isn't disgusting. What am I missing?
- red_trumpet 3y agoImo it is reasonable, but still disgusting. They don't want the public to know how they operate, because that reflects badly on them. A bit like you wouldn't necessarily tell your neighbor you're having an affair.
- repelsteeltje 3y ago> They don't want the public to know how they operate, because that reflects badly on them. Fair enough, if the way they operate is legal, but a trade secret/competitive advantage/... But since this is about antitrust, I'm hoping we'll get so see exactly how they operate with respect to allegedly violating the law.
- robertlagrant 3y ago> They don't want the public to know how they operate, because that reflects badly on them I think there's more to it than that. That may well be true, who knows, but it's also the endless punditry and click-baitery that will surround any information here, which will just spread "takes" and thus opinions with little basis in reality. That is to say, there is a legitimate fear that even a well-behaved organisation will be not understood as such when a pundit industry's salary depends on its not understanding it as such.
- smoldesu 3y agoAre there any FAANG companies that would want to show the public how they operate?
- w______roy 3y agoThink of it another way: transparency hurt a criminal corporation’s ability to use its army of lawyers to defend itself.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- jsnell 3y agoObsoleted by: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37673413 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37673413 Effective dupe of: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37641393 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37641393
- repelsteeltje 3y agoPersuading a judge to keep info away from public record because it's confidential business information supposedly requires Google's attorneys to argue the docs contain numbers, personal/privacy sensitive information, names of subcontractors/companies that they consider competitive advantage (I'm not a lawyer)?! Wouldn't it make more sense to redact those sections out rather than discussing them behind closed doors? I mean, I imagine it should be possible to assemble merits & antitrust-legality without disclosing the nitty gritty? Or is that exactly the point — that Google could easily comply, but is weaseling to protect its image, reputation? And if so, what motives would a judge have to play along? What leverage does Google have against judge (not prosecution)?
- sinuhe69 3y agoThe American Prospect is a daily online and bimonthly print American political and public policy magazine dedicated to American modern liberalism and progressivism. The American Prospect - Wikipedia Ad Fontes Media rates The American Prospect in the Strong Left category of bias and as Generally Reliable/Analysis OR Other Issues in terms of reliability. The American Prospect Bias and Reliability | Ad Fontes Media
- anonymousiam 3y agoI've reached the age where I see a pop-cultural reference that's immediately obvious to me, but I wonder how many others get it. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_of_Silence_(Get_Smart) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cone_of_Silence_(Get_Smart)
- aeurielesn 3y agoThe irony of Google not wanting to be searched.