Google Merger Critic Requests Congressional Action
The Electronic Privacy Information Center plans to take its complaints about the FTC's approval of Google's multi-billion dollar merger with DoubleClick to Capitol Hill. The agency gave the controversial pairing its blessing on Thursday [see Technology Daily's PM Edition for more].
EPIC's director Marc Rotenberg said he will "bring this matter to the appropriate congressional oversight committees that are responsible for the agency’s funding and statutory authority." His group has also submitted a series of expedited Freedom of Information Act requests to the FTC regarding the commission's review of the merger.
The FTC "had an opportunity to establish the necessary safeguards for personal data and competition that could have allowed a global framework to emerge," Rotenberg said in a statement. "Instead, the commission's failure to act leaves the question of how best to address the privacy and competition implications of this deal to others."
The agency, which he notes, is "funded by taxpayer dollars," has the sole purpose of protecting the public interest. "It failed to do so today in a case that will have far-reaching implications for the Internet economy and the privacy rights of American consumers," he said.
Meanwhile, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told us he still has concerns with the merger "especially as it relates to competition and privacy." "Given the relative youth of the Internet, a merger of this kind is unprecedented and no one can predict how it will affect the industry," he said.
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