
How Google enlisted congressmen it bankrolled to fight $6bn EU antitrust case - Libertatea
http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/dec/17/google-lobbyists-congress-antitrust-brussels-eu
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cryoshon
Title should be "Google bribed US congressmen to fight EU antitrust case which
could hurt their profits."

Google is one of the most powerful companies in the world. We need a system
for holding them accountable when they intentionally corrupt our political
apparatus for their own benefit.

Surely there must be some Google employees here-- how can you consent to
complicity in this socially harmful activity by your employer?

~~~
ocdtrekkie
Google employees, from my experience, live in an incredible state of cognitive
dissonance. The way Google markets itself to it's employees is even better
than the way it markets itself to the public.

~~~
cryoshon
Can you elaborate?

~~~
ocdtrekkie
One of the things expressed to me by a Googler was that when something cool or
new came out, he would think "I hope Google does something like that so I can
use it". Similarly, I've watched Googlers suddenly get excited about putting a
new product in their home once Google has acquired it (like Dropcam). The
device wasn't substantially better (or at all different) after the
acquisition, but it's status as a Google product made it worthwhile.

A couple months ago, a Googler on Twitter stated that all serialization
protocols that aren't Protobufs are 'considered harmful'. The Googler stated
that Cap'n Proto was included in that, because it wasn't made by Google; the
funny part, is that Protobufs v2 and Cap'n Proto are authored by the same
person, but he since left Google.
[https://twitter.com/evankroske/status/656303486175350784](https://twitter.com/evankroske/status/656303486175350784)

There seems to be an expressly distinct attitude at Google about things made
by Google compared to things not made by Google which extends beyond pride or
common sense. It's likely partially driving why Google often announces new
'standards' led by them, rather than contributing to existing standards not
owned by them.

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rdancer
How quaint the EU is compared to the US: "Lobbying" in EU means giving money
to institutions that write position papers & free sandwiches for politicians;
"lobbying" in the US means bribing sitting politicians outright with
benjamins.

~~~
ocdtrekkie
All of the Congresspeople mentioned in this article have received HEAVY
contributions from Google. Anna Eshoo receives a huge amount of money from
Google every single term. She basically receives above full-time minimum wage
every year from them, she should probably be called a Google employee.

~~~
rdancer
If she were an employee, she would have a salary. What she has is a bribe.

Those bribes are much higher than what you say, though, as they are structured
in a way that is not even publicly available, what with PACs, board membership
for household members, info for insider trading, future job offers, "speaker
fees"...

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ocdtrekkie
I've actually been talking about these Congresspeople and the letters they've
been writing for months. It's nice to see confirmation that I'm not the only
one who finds it suspect.

