About Scott Cleland
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The Unfair and Deceptive Online-Offline Playing Field – FTC Hearing FilingSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2018-08-07 18:34Submission for: U.S. FTC Fall 2018 Hearings on “Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century” Topic #2: “Competition and Consumer Protection in Communication, Information, and Media Technology Networks” FTC Project # P181201 (PDF of this filing is here.) The Unfair and Deceptive Online-Offline Playing Field of Divergent U.S. Competition and Consumer Protection Policy A Google China Search Censorship App Is Not Neutral Free Open or RightSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Fri, 2018-08-03 12:01What business trade-offs must Alphabet-Google make to continue to grow revenues at its 25% annual rate -- i.e. +$27b in new revenues in 2018, +$35b more in 2019, and +$45b more in 2020 -- to become another company worth a trillion dollars? Alphabet-Google has decided apparently, whatever it takes. Maybe no single Google action tells us more about where Alphabet-Google stands in its twentieth year as a company and what it believes it must do to succeed as it wants in the next twenty years, than “Google Plans to Launch a Censored Search Engine in China” – the main driver of Google’s apparent new China-first growth strategy revealed in The Intercept’s scoop this week. Case Study of Google Serial Over-collection of Private Data for FTC HearingsSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2018-07-30 14:10A Case Study of Alphabet-Google’s 2004-2018 Privacy Track Record of Evident Unfair and Deceptive Over-collection of Consumers’ Personal Data Exposes an Evident Gap in the FTC’s Remedial Authority to Protect Consumers Submitted as a public comment for the FTC’s fall 2018 “Competition and Consumer Protection in the 21st Century Hearings.” Topic #5: “The Commission’s remedial authority to deter unfair and deceptive conduct in privacy and data security matters” FTC Project Number: P181201; (PDF FTC submission here) July 30, 2018; By Scott Cleland; President, Precursor® LLC info@precursor.com & Chairman, NetCompetition® Conclusion This case study of Alphabet-Google’s track record of unfair and deceptive privacy and data security practices provides a compelling body of evidence of 17 major business practice examples over a fifteen-year period that indicate the FTC evidently does not have enough remedial enforcement authority to deter Google, or other Internet platforms, from engaging in unfair and deceptive conduct in privacy and data security matters. It is also evident from Google’s words and actions chronicled below that it legally does not believe its users have a “legitimate expectation of privacy” concerning the information they provide to Google. Google-Android’s Deceptive Antitrust Defenses Presage a US v. Alphabet SuitSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Fri, 2018-07-20 12:17The likely probability of an eventual U.S. v. Alphabet Sherman monopolization case improved further now that we know how weak Alphabet-Google’s likely primary U.S. antitrust defense of Android is. This means not only is a potential U.S. v. Alphabet antitrust case stronger than the seminal successful and upheld U.S. v. Microsoft precedent, but Google’s relative antitrust defense is much weaker too. Google’s CEO Sundar Pichai’s public Android antitrust defense has fatal flaws. First, Google-Android claims Apple iOS is a direct competitor when factually in an antitrust context it is not. Why a US v. Google-Android Antitrust Case Is Stronger than US v. MicrosoftSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2018-07-16 17:18SUMMARY The impending EU-Google-Android abuse of dominance conviction and expected record fine and substantial behavioral prohibitions, begs the question of how U.S. antitrust enforcers will eventually act on the outcome of their own Google-Android investigation? New U.S. Privacy & Data Protection Law Is Inevitable Like a Pendulum SwingSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Mon, 2018-07-09 09:20It is a matter of when, not if, Congress will pass national privacy and data protection law for the 21st century. It’s inevitable, because the U.S. privacy policy to date is operating as predictably as a pendulum swinging. Consider the evident big picture, pendulum dynamic at work here. The Sea Change Significance of Simons-FTC Privacy and Antitrust HearingsSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Wed, 2018-06-27 16:21Much bigger change is afoot at the FTC than many may appreciate. An awakened and reinvigorated Simons-FTC lies ahead as do eventual new FTC calls for 21st century privacy and data protection legislation. Don’t be fooled by the glacial pace of the 2017-18 FTC appointment/confirmation process for a near clean slate of FTC leadership. We now have strong official directional evidence from FTC Chairman Simons that the next two-and-a-half years are going to be very different from the last five years, 2013-17. Buying WhatsApp Tipped Facebook to Monopoly; Why Didn’t FTC Probe Purchase?Submitted by Scott Cleland on Tue, 2018-06-19 12:11Anyone concerned with the anticompetitive state of digital advertising, and how to fix it, should focus like a laser on the circumstances surrounding the 2014 FTC’s pass on formally investigating if the Facebook-WhatsApp acquisition would “substantially lessen competition” under the Clayton Antitrust Act. That obvious FTC mistake in hindsight, triggered a winner-take-all domino effect that not only tipped Facebook to a social advertising monopoly, but also tipped the overall digital advertising market to the anticompetitive digital advertising cartel that evidently predominates today. Some brief context is helpful here. This big 2014 FTC mistake was the fourth of a pattern of big anticompetitive FTC mistakes concerning the digital advertising marketplace over the last decade. What Happened Since FTC Secretly Shut 2012 Google-Android Antitrust Probe?Submitted by Scott Cleland on Fri, 2018-06-08 16:30If only the 2012 FTC appreciated “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” the Simons-FTC would not be left to treat and contain the now evident, out-of-control, Androidopoly epidemic. Google’s 2012 search-syndication monopoly scale has rapidly metastasized Google’s market power in scope to: Android licensable OS, Google Play app store, Google Location Services, Chrome browser, Google Maps, and YouTube video. Lax 2013-2017 FTC antitrust enforcement has consequences. Evident Internet Market Failure to Protect Consumer Welfare -- White PaperSubmitted by Scott Cleland on Thu, 2018-05-31 09:15
Below is the executive summary of my new white paper, “Internet Market Failure to Protect Consumer Welfare,” which can be accessed here.
It is a timely and relevant submission to two different and current U.S. Department of Justice efforts to learn more about the impact of Internet-related issues.
1. Submission for: the U.S. DOJ Cyber-Digital Task Force June 2018 Report to the Attorney General
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