Antitrust Law Daily Wrap Up, ANTITRUST NEWS: Antitrust Enforcement Against Google Would Be Misguided, Congressman Says, (Oct 16, 2012)

By William Zale, J.D.

In a letter to FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz, as the agency enters the final stages of its investigation of Google, Congressman Jared Polis (D-Colo.) urged against enforcement action because competition is “only a click away” and there are a no barriers to competition among providers of the services offered by the search engine giant.

As a high-tech entrepreneur who has used Google’s advertising tools to grow his businesses, Polis encouraged the Commission to tread carefully and not to undertake actions that would compromise Google’s service’s or reduce its ability to innovate rapidly. The application of antitrust to Google would be “woefully misguided” in the Congressman’s view, and “could ultimately lead to Congressional action resulting in a reduction in the ability of the FTC to enforce critical anti-trust protections in industries where markets are being distorted by monopolies or oligopolies.”

News: Antitrust