High tech vs. governments, again

2013 is only a few days old, and already a major high-tech firm has scored a victory over reasonable regulation. Google managed to escape from a 19 month Federal Trade Commission inquiry without incurring antitrust charges.

Instead, the search engine leader - which claims 70 percent of all U.S. searches and three-quarters of all U.S. search advertising - agreed to modify some of its business practices. Instead, said the FTC:

"... Google will meet its prior commitments to allow competitors access - on fair, reasonable, and non-discriminatory terms - to patents on critical standardized technologies needed to make popular devices such as smart phones, laptop and tablet computers, and gaming consoles."

FTC Chairman Jon Leibowitz told the media that investigators found no actionable evidence that Google search steered users to its own services. "Some may believe the commission should have done more, but for our part we do follow the facts where they lead," he said.

The decision left Google competitors steaming and many public interest groups dismayed. But the fights over regulation are nowhere near over.

A New Year's Day report in The New York Times predicted that despite their successes in 2012, the major technology companies would again be facing off against federal regulators in the new year.

In 2012, high-tech defeated consumer privacy legislation and imposition of Do Not Track browser settings, as well as SOPA. But those victories didn't come cheap. The Center for Responsive Politics estimated that tech companies will have spent on lobbying more than the $127 million they paid out in 2011. And 2013 may turn out more expensive.

"Congress is likely to revisit online security legislation - meant to safeguard critical infrastructure from attack - that failed last year," wrote the Times. And then there are giants Google and Facebook, both of whom are still facing expensive fights in Europe.

To defeat the FTC investigation, Google "...pressed its case with antitrust regulators investigating the company. Working relentlessly behind the scenes, executives made frequent flights to Washington, laying out their legal arguments and shrewdly applying lessons learned from Microsoft's bruising antitrust battle in the 1990s."

And Facebook has "set up a political action committee, hired a stable of seasoned, well-connected insiders from both parties and offered tips to lawmakers in an effort to make its site indispensable to politicians seeking re-election."

But the regulatory picture depends on more than simply the inclinations of government officials and the skill of lobbyists. Public outlook, too, may have changed. While many Internet users had expressed a hands-off attitude before, actions by some of the big companies may be changing that. When Instagram - owned by Facebook - proposed to simply grab subscriber photos and use them without payment for advertising, the public howled and Instagram backtracked.

But one thing is certain: the battle continues.

Google Agrees to Change Its Business Practices (FTC, Jan. 3, 2013)

Google makes concessions to avoid legal action in US (BBC, Jan. 3, 2012)

Tech Giants Brace for More Scrutiny From Regulators (NY Times, Jan. 2, 2013)

Google Pushed Hard Behind the Scenes to Convince Regulators (NY Times, Jan. 3, 2013)