Waiting for the Google-IS-Evil! campaign, funded by Microsoft

Not an April Fools joke: "Microsoft is filing a formal complaint with the European Commission as part of the Commission's ongoing investigation into whether Google has violated European competition law."

I was thinking of writing an April Fools post inspired by this, describing a new fictitious campaign for "Google Neutrality", supposedly backed by Microsoft. Stuff like demanding immediate hearings on the ominous threat of a corporate behemoth which is strategically positioned at a choke-point of Internet operations. It might crush small fragile start-ups (oh, the start-ups, the precious start-ups) thus strangling innovation. Or engage in anti-competitive self-favoring dealing. Pay no attention to the apologism of its shills. Liberty itself demands that the monster in the making be tamed, via the dangerous but necessary action of government oversight.

But it was too difficult to get the satire right. And I suspect many people wouldn't get a multi-layered joke, of the irony of Microsoft targeting Google for what used to be said of Microsoft, while at the same time Google is targeting ISP's (that's Net Neutrality, if it's unclear). And I suppose nobody remembers that the Microsoft antitrust campaign was said to be a creature of Netscape (once upon a time, Netscape was rich).

Anyway, I'm waiting for Microsoft to start spreading some PR money around about "Google - Threat or Menace?". I think there's been a little bit of it, and I imagine I see a few of the money-followers making proposals of a sort. But the spigots apparently haven't opened up. If/when they do, look for conferences and articles and endless blog-posts claiming Google lies and arguing how Google must be stopped to preserve net freedom.

I've gotten very cynical about net politics.

Seth Finkelstein's Infothought blog (Wikipedia, Google, censorware, and an inside view of net-politics) - Syndicate site (subscribe, RSS)