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.