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September 18, 2014 6:20 pm
Rupert Murdoch: savaging Google and American capitalism
By Robert Shrimsley
The search engine is making way too much money and it just isnt fair
obert Thomson, chief executive of Rupert Murdochs News Corp, has written to Europes
competition commissioner, calling for regulatory action against Google. His letter laments
cynical management that has taken root at Google, contemptuous of the rights of others and
manipulating its output for business advantage.
Dear Vice-President Almunia,
On behalf of the people of Europe, can I just say fair play to you for reopening Brussels antitrust deal with Google. Until now, we who hail
from the new world have at times viewed you with the contempt that our own go-getting society always reserves for stuffy, siesta-taking,
dead-hand-of-the-state regulators like your good self. So I can only welcome the refreshing attitude being shown by concerned citizens
like you towards an overmighty company with global ambitions.
We at News Corp make no apologies for our idealism and, unlike Google, we have never surrendered our core values. We have stayed true
to our hacker ethos. While Google has been taken over by cynical managers no such takeover was ever necessary at News Corp. As you
know, Rupert Murdoch founded our company from a small garage in Adelaide, in Australias Hot Metal Valley. From the earliest days
KRM as his adoring staff refer to him had a mission to change the world for the better. But he also knew that with power comes
responsibility, which is why he gave News Corp its unofficial motto: Dont get caught being evil.
Do not be fooled by Googles internet idealism. For all their talk about building a better world, these are hard-nosed American
capitalists, tech locusts of the type you hate, and they enjoy a market power that we can only dream of.
They are contemptuous of other peoples property. Take video; Google routinely displays YouTube videos at the top of search results often
ahead of the contents originator. And why do it? For no better reason than to make money. Sometimes I wonder if they even believe in
the kind of European values that you and we at News Corp share.
We have always believed that this blatant cross-promotion is bad for choice. Open our papers any day and you will struggle to find acres
of space devoted to the superior programming at Sky TV or Fox. Instead we devote space to the BBC, of which we can never speak too
highly. We admit that we may in the past have engaged in the odd spot of cross-promotion but, when we were doing it, it was to boost
choice. More important, Google is proving more effective at it than us and, frankly, it is no longer fair.
Google is exploiting its dominant market position to stifle competition; were it a newspaper it would
probably be using its profits to slash prices to drive competitors out of business.
The companys aggregation of content and tolerance of piracy is undermining the business model of other
companies, which clearly is not what capitalism is about. What is more, it can only lead to a less informed,
more vexatious level of dialogue in our society. The quality of discourse will deteriorate and give way to the
kind of ill-informed intemperate opinions we so often warn about on Fox News.
That is why we welcome your lead in protecting less competitive industries from the savage forces of the free
market that Rupert has spent his life opposing.
You may have seen a recent editorial in our Wall Street Journal lambasting you for reneging on your deal
with Google and backing their right to earn a buck. Pay no heed. It is merely an example of our proprietors
deep commitment to journalistic independence. The author will, in fact, shortly be independently heading up our new bureau in
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Monrovia.
Google also has no respect for property or privacy. It doesnt believe in the right to be forgotten. But we do. We have already forgotten
Andy Coulson, the News of the World and the entire phone-hacking scandal. James Murdoch has even forgotten that he was in charge of
the UK operation during the hacking crisis.
So let me end by saying that as you continue your heroic defence of the people of Europe against the locust capitalist Google, we are here
for you and only too happy to help.
Yours in fraternal solidarity,
Robert Thomson
robert.shrimsley@ft.com
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