Microsoft Trying To Block Google-DoubleClick Deal

Info World has an article that informs of Microsoft partnering with PR firm Burson-Marsteller. The motive is to 'form the Initiative for Competitive Online Marketplace and call for blocking the Google-DoubleClick deal'.

In the official website of Initiative for Competitive Online Marketplace, or iCOMP, the group states its motive as "to highlight important principles in online services and begin important industry discussions around copyright, privacy, and competition."

iComp's principles are:

• “Advertisers, web publishers and consumers all rely on healthy competition in online advertising to fund online innovation and content. Online advertising will continue to serve as the engine that drives the online economy, but only if vibrant competition in this critical sector is preserved.

Regulators should carefully scrutinize any transactions in the online advertising sector that would create or enhance a dominant market position, substantially reduce existing or future competition, or leave advertisers, online publishers, or consumers with fewer options.

• The Internet and e-commerce will reach their full potential only if consumers understand the ways in which information about them is used and are confident that their privacy will be respected online.

Regulators should ensure that the online collection and use of data about users, including their search and/or web surfing histories, comply with relevant laws and industry best practices, and provide users with adequate notice and choice.

• Intellectual property rights foster creativity and innovation, including online, by enabling firms and individuals to capture the commercial value of their efforts.

All stakeholders should fully respect the rights of authors and publishers while encouraging investments in innovation and the emergence of legitimate, sustainable online business models. “

Jack Evans, a Microsoft spokesman, said "Like others, we believe this proposed merger raises serious questions about the future of competition in the online advertising market as well as about consumer privacy and copyright protection".

Sign Petition at iComp.

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