As we reported earlier today, the US Federal Trade Commission entered into a settlement agreement with Google that will include promises by Google to change some of its practices. Today, Microsoft"s Vice President and Deputy General Counsel Dave Heiner made it clear in a statement that Microsoft feels the FTC could have done more to make Google change its ways.
Heiner"s blog post states:
The FTC’s overall resolution of this matter is weak and—frankly—unusual. We are concerned that the FTC may not have obtained adequate relief even on the few subjects that Google has agreed to address.
Heiner was especially concerned with the FTC"s settlement with Google on FRAND patents. While the agreement says that Google cannot seek an injunction on companies that it suspects have violated those patents, Heiner says Google"s agreement comes with a ton of exceptions where the company can file for injunctions. Heiner says:
Since it is often hard to tell which patents are standard essential, the risk of injunction lawsuits from Google may dissuade firms from seeking to enforce their non-standard essential patents against the company.
Microsoft also didn"t like the fact that the FTC closed its investigation into Google"s search algorithms which Microsoft and other companies feel promote Google"s own products at the expense of others. Ultimately, Heiner feels that Google " ... seems to be walking with a new spring in its step today" as a result of the FTC"s findings, adding, " ... there appears to be no reason, despite the FTC’s optimistic statements this morning, to believe that Google recognizes its responsibilities as an industry leader."
Source: Microsoft | Image via Google