Google Claims Built-In Vista Search Is Unfair

[Sunite]

Google Claims Built-In Vista Search Is Unfair
By Frederick Lane
June 11, 2007 12:43PM

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Thomas Barnett, a Justice Department official, sent a memo to prosecutors recommending they reject Google's complaint about Vista's built-in search, which Google claims unfairly discourages use of Google Desktop. Reports indicate that prosecutors began looking seriously at the Google complaint after receiving the memo.

Related Topics
   Microsoft
   Google
   Windows
   Vista
   Antitrust
   Google Desktop

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   Microsoft Relevant Products/Services, no stranger to antitrust claims, is now fending off new allegations that it is unfairly using its operating-system dominance to exclude competitors. The latest complainant is from Google, which recently submitted a lengthy white paper to the Justice Department and various state attorneys general arguing that Windows Vista's search utility discourages use of Google's own desktop search.

Representatives for Google declined to talk at length about the matter, but in an e-mail, spokesperson Ricardo Reyes did offer the following statement: "Microsoft's current approach with Vista desktop search violates the consent decree and limits consumer choice. The search boxes built throughout Vista are hard-wired to Microsoft's own desktop search product, with no way for users to choose an alternate provider from these visible search access points. Likewise, Vista makes it impractical to turn off Microsoft's search index."

Memo Boomerangs

On Sunday, the New York Times reported that Thomas O. Barnett, a top antitrust official in the Justice Department, circulated a memorandum to state prosecutors recommending that they reject Google's complaint. The unusual step, the Times said, reflects a significant shift in the federal government's attitude toward Microsoft; under President Bill Clinton, the Justice Department had sought a court order to break Microsoft into several pieces.

Barnett's memo reportedly did not have the intended effect of reducing the controversy. There are multiple reports indicating that, following receipt of Barnett's memo, state prosecutors are looking even more seriously at the Google complaint. Now, the Justice Department itself is reconsidering whether it should join them.

Some have raised concern over the fact that, until 2004, Barnett was a leading antitrust attorney at Covington and Burlin, one of the firms that represent Microsoft.

However, Barnett reportedly did not work on Microsoft cases while in private practice and avoided working on matters involving the company after joining the Justice Department. After being given a green light by ethics specialists, Barnett has been actively involved in the Department's antitrust dealings with Microsoft.

Details Forthcoming?

So far, the specifics of Google's complaint against Vista search have not been made public, but details are likely to emerge later this month. U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly, who is overseeing Microsoft's compliance with its 2002 consent decree with the U.S. government, was told by the Justice Department at a March 26 hearing that a complaint had been filed against Microsoft. The identity of the complainant was not released that that time.

The Justice Department told Judge Kollar-Kotelly that it was investigating the complaint, which eventually led to Barnett's memo to the state attorneys general. With the news breaking that it is Google that has complained about Vista's search utility, it is likely that more specific information about Google's concerns will be available after the next status conference in two weeks, on June 26.