Google takes Android search blow in Russia (bbc.co.uk).
“Google has promised to allow rivals’ search engines and apps to be pre-installed on phones running its versions of Android in Russia. The concession follows an out-of-court deal with the country’s competition watchdog. In addition, Google has promised to develop a tool to make it easy for users to change their device’s default search engine. … It brings to an end a long-running battle between the US firm and Russia’s competition regulator, the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS).”
Indeed, but surely it isn’t just me, remembering “the browser wars” (Wikipedia) that saw someone else in the monopoly position that the, much maligned by privacy-apathetic Chrome-domes and Linux evangelists, “Micro$oft” were all those years ago that led MS following agreement with European Commission in anti-trust case to put similar “Browser Choice” tool prominently on Win 7 desktop, which it did until 2009 (pcworld.com, Dec. 2014). It seems I’m not, but will doubtless still be sent virtual Coventry for daring to utter:
“The EU continues to pursue similar claims against Google, saying the firm is ‘requiring and incentivising’ Android hardware manufacturers to exclusively use its services.’”
Google’s anti-trust issues with the EU having been going on some time and I’m sure there must be at least one conspiracy dungarees theorist asserting it was them really responsible for Lil’ English tax haven potential Brexit while sitting safely across the Irish Sea in Eire with that “sweathearts” tax deal ex-Chancellor George Osborne gave them (thisisnocave.blogspot.co.uk, updated 23rd Jan. 2016).
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