The hearing is going on now, and Microsoft’s (NSDQ: MSFT) Brad Smith, SVP and General Counsel, just finished his testimony: the prepared statement has been release by MSFT here. Its argument is hinged on these points:
—While there are millions of web sites and advertisers on the Internet, there are actually a very small number of “intermediaries” that provide the tools and services that connect them. These intermediaries play a gateway or middleman role if you will, much like the natural gas pipelines that connect refineries to distributors and to consumers in their homes.
—What are the antitrust and privacy implications of giving a single company sole control over the largest database of user information the world has ever known? This country doesn’t permit a phone company to listen to what you say and use that information to target ads. The computer industry doesn’t permit a software company to record what you type and use that information to target ads. Yet with this merger, Google (NSDQ: GOOG) seeks to record almost everything you see and do on the Internet and use that information to target ads.